Mysteries Made
by the.hungry.mockingjay
Summary: Katniss was known to hide her emotions from people. But when she travels to District 2 to train for the games, she not only hides her emotions, but her identity, where she's from, and why she is there to begin with. Follow Katniss as she trains for what she hates so much. A little OOC for some characters and Rated M for language just in case and the song in first chap is by me.
1. Judge

Chapter 1

_When I first saw you,_

_all I could see,_

_was your hate for me._

_When I first saw you,_

_all I could see_

_was a place I'd never be._

_No you'll never accept me,_

_maybe cause you don't know me._

_But if you knew me for me,_

_we'd be friends through History._

_Never judge things by how they look._

_Cause then you're never off the hook,_

_for all the things you spread around._

_Just remember what goes around comes around._

_If you judge me I might judge you._

_You don't know me like you think you do._

_And you don't scare me like you think you do._

_Because I'm so over you._

_When you first saw me,_

_all I could see,_

_was an enemy._

_When you first saw me,_

_all you could feel,_

_was what you refuse to feel._

_No you think I won't accept you,_

_Cause you think that I don't know you._

_But if you knew me for me,_

_we could be friends through History. _

_Never judge things by how they look._

_Cause then you're never off the hook,_

_for all the things you spread around._

_Just remember what goes around comes around._

_If you judge me I might judge you._

_You don't know me like you think you do._

_And you don't scare me like you think you do._

_Because I'm so over you._

_Every one will let it go,_

_So I don't see why you won't._

_Then all the sudden you don't care._

_It's like you fell off the chair,_

_That kept you stable all this time._

_What is going through your mind?_

_We should never judge things by how they look._

_Cause then we're never really off the hook._

_We gotta remember what goes around comes around._

_If you judge me I might judge you._

_We don't know each other like we think we do._

_We don't scare each other like we think we do._

_But I don't think I'm over you..._

_**Name: Judge**_

_**Written by: .Mockingjay**_

Who knew my life would come to this? That I would resort to doing what I hate the most to survive. Training for the games that I hope I won't enter. But in my District there is always that possibility. With all of the times that my name is entered into the selection for the Tessera. I never thought I would go to District Two to train at the Academy. I know I have to hunt to help my family, but Gale and Peeta will help me. Gale will hunt and gather while Peeta will bring bread. They have always helped me and my family when we needed it, so when I'm gone for two years to train I know they'll help. And when I'm gone Madge will be there for Prim, Prim looks at her like another sister. So hopefully everything will be okay when I'm gone.

When I'm gone. That is what almost scares me. District Two is a Career District. They start training when they are eight years old. But recently I had given a lot of thought about it. Kids young enough for the Games can apply to go train at the Academy, lord only knows why. But after thinking about it, if I get in I can train and get better at my hunting skills. Then if I get Reaped for the games, I have a chance of survival. And if I don't, I'll be better at hunting. And I know that I can get into the Academy, it's based on the Peacekeeper rating, and since half of them in my District eat my rabbits or squirrels, I know I can get a good score. Because they know what I can do and how well I can do it. Who knows what will happen when I get to the Academy, no one from District Twelve has ever gone. They want to stay as far away from the Games as possible. And if they do apply they don't get in, mostly because they don't have what it takes. Or because they get intimidated or scared when they are in the evaluation.

But my story starts the day after the evaluation.


	2. Perky in Pink

Chapter 2

~Katniss~

"Everdeen step forward please." said the head Peacekeeper, he is one that always buy game from me, and he especially love the rabbits. I stepped forward from the line of teens that had applied to go to the Academy. I wore black pants, a faded green shirt, and my hunting boots. I did not have to do much for my evaluation because they know what I can do. I walked up to him and he handed me a slip of paper with my rating on it. "Rating Eight." he said in monotone and I nodded. After everybody had gotten their rating we were permitted to go home and change into finer clothing for the acceptance ceremony with somebody from the Capitol. I ran straight home and the first person I saw was my little sister Prim.

"What did you get?" she asked sadly yet eagerly.

"I got an Eight." I said kneeling down next to her.

"Does that mean you'll get in?"

"I don't know Little Duck." I said using her nickname that I gave her because she always leaves the back of her shirt untucked like a duck tail.

"I laid something out for you." my mother said from the kitchen.

"Okay." I said, giving one last smile to Prim before going up and getting ready. After bathing and getting dressed my mother braided up my hair while Prim sat and watched. We were all silent as we walked from our house to the Town Square where the ceremony would take place. I hand my rating in one hand as Prim held the other. I stepped into the line and waited for the Capitol person to make their appearance. And soon _she_ did.

"Hello everyone. Oh is this all we have today?" she said as she looked out at all of us. "Well, let's continue." she said and read a name off the list. "Katniss Everdeen." a woman named Effie Trinket calls my name. She is dressed clad in pink from her head to her toes. Even her hair is a light shade of pink. I stepped forward in my faded blue dress that used to be my mothers. It's a little too big for me but I ill grow into it eventually. "Peacekeeper Rating please." she, Effie, asks cheerfully.

"Eight." I reply flatly, handing her my slip of paper.

"Great, step through there." she gestures to the Justice Building and I do as she says.

No one comes, I was the first of us to come in here, one of few. But now I am the only one. I am going to train in the Academy. After sitting in the room for almost an an hour, a Peacekeeper lead me into another room to say goodbye until I see them again. And my family was the first people that I saw.

"Katniss! Don't go!" my ten year old sister shouted as her arms latched around me.

"I have to Little Duck. I'm doing this for us." I say trying to calm her.

"You need to stay home for us!" she countered.

"Who will hunt for food?" my mother asked finally speaking up.

"Don't worry. Gale will hunt and gather for you, Peeta and Madge will help too. Mom you have to keep running the Apothecary, show Gale what herbs to gather and he'll get them for you."

"Okay."

"You can't fade out again, Prim needs you and Madge won't always be there." I said and she nodded. I hugged both of them tightly as the Peacekeeper told them their time was up and too them away. Thirty seconds later three voices filled my ears, bombarding me with questions.

"Are you crazy?" came from my only girl friend Madge, the mayor's daughter.

"Why are you doing this? We need you here!" said the baker's son, Peeta, his blue eyes shining with worry.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Shouted my best friend and hunting partner Gale.

"I'm doing this for Prim, for all of you, and for me. If I get Reaped I want to come out alive, I will fight. And if Prim gets Reaped, you can be sure as hell I won't let her go into the Games. And if I never go into the Games, then I'll be able to hunt that much better." I explain looking at them to see how they are taking it all in. Madge looked close to tears, Peeta still had the look of worry in his eyes, and Gale looked angry.

"I'll still think you're out of your damn mind." he said with clenched fists.

"I'm sorry. Gale please don't let them starve, mother will need plants and herbs for medicine." I said and he nodded, his hardened face softening.

"I'll help too, my dad loves your sister." Peeta said.

"Madge please be there for here, I don't know how there my mom will be."

"I promise." she confirmed and I hugged each of them. First Madge, then Gale, and finally Peeta. As soon as I let go of him a Peacekeeper ushered them away. I sat there in the window, trying to catch one last glimpse of my District that will have to last me for several months, until the I come back here again. The "Perky in Pink" Effie Trinket soon came and took me to a commercial train to pick up other future trainees of the Academy from other Districts.

When I entered the train, it looked like more than I would expect a commercial train to be like. The carpets were a deep blue, the carpeted floors were a dark gray almost black color, and maroon curtains lined the windows and were pulled to the side to allow sun to shine through. Crystal lights hung from the ceilings and bottle of different colored liquids lined the back wall near the food tables, which was decorated in all sorts of foods that I had never seen before.

"This is the District 12 car. The other Districts each have their own cars on the train. And since you are the only one from your District you have this one all to yourself, besides me. Oh, where are my manners? I didn't properly introduce myself. I'm Effie Trinket and I'll be your escort on this journey you'll be on." she rambled.

"Katniss." I said but she already knew my name.

"I think it's very brave that you are doing this. I honestly don't know why others wouldn't be as determined as you to get to the Games. To want to bring honor to their Districts." she continued on and on until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Can I go to my room now?" she wrinkled her nose at my outburst but nodded.

"Right through that door dear." she said pointing to the door behind me. I nodded and walked briskly to it almost slamming it behind me. I stared at my room, the same walls, carpets, and curtains, but in this room was a giant bed, the blankets matched the curtains with an embroidered pattern sewn in with gold thread. There as a set of double doors that must be the closet, and curiously I opened it to find that it was filled with clothing, shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, shorts, shoes, everything I would need. None of it is what I had back home, no this was all stuff from the Capitol. The only other door in this room must be to the bathroom, which was lavish at the sight. I went back to looking at the clothes in the closet when Effie opened the door.

"Katniss? Would you like anything to eat?" she asked.

"Are all of these for me?" I asked pointing to the closet.

"Why yes, they are for you to wear during your stay at the Academy." she said perplexed. I stood there in thought. It was almost as if they knew that I, a fourteen year old girl, was going to be on this train. All of these clothes looked like they would fit me. "So would you like something to eat?" she asked again, bringing me out of my musings.

"Um yeah but can I change out of this dress first?" I asked pulled at it slightly and she nodded. I quickly changed into pants, shirt, and boots before walking out to see an Avox placing food on the table. I sat down and quietly loaded up my plate of food.

"So Katniss, do you have any questions about the Academy?"

"Do I have to tell people where I'm from?" I asked and she looked a little surprised.

"Why wouldn't you sweetheart?"

"Because I'm scared that people are going to hurt me because I'm from District 12."

"I see, well its up to you whether you want to tell people. The Peacekeepers already know and the Trainers are going to find out." she said and I nodded.

"When are we going to get to District 2?" I asked after taking and chewing a few mouth fulls of food.

"In a few days dear, we have to pick up the other new students." she said and I nodded, turning back to my meal. When I was done an Avox brought out some dessert but I was already full.

"May I be excused?" I asked politely.

"Of course Sweetheart." she said and I went straight to my room. The first thing I did when I got there was dive straight onto the bed. I thought it would be hard because just by looking at it, it looks like a giant square with sharp pointed corners; but no, it is actually soft, quite soft as a matter of fact. I laid there, my head in the soft pillows, and body splayed out across the bed. And I stayed like that for the entire night. And over the next few days, I never left my room. Only to eat and when Effie made me leave. I mostly spent the entire day looking out the window to see the journey from District to District pass by.

It did not scare me as I got further and further from home. Or that I got further from my comfort zone, the woods. No, I had to be brave and strong. If I let people see my weakness they will use it against me and tear me down and step all over me. And I was not about to let that happen. I do not want people knowing where I am from or many people knowing what my name is. I'm not coming to the Academy to make friends, one or two maybe. But friends are not my priority. Most of the Careers that train there think that emotions make them weak, but I on the other hand, they make me strong. They push me to succeed. I will not be scared of the Careers training there, but what I will be scared of however, is all of the death that comes out of it. They train killers and everybody that comes out of that place and into the Games kills people just for a show and for honor when it isn't really one at all. I may be scared of the place itself but I will not and cannot show it.


	3. Spitfire

Chapter 3

~Katniss~

After a few days on stopping at the other Districts we finally made it to District 2 and this place was huge. I would definitely have to explore this place sometime. I walked with Effie and the rest of the students and their Escorts inside the Academy to the cafeteria where they gave us a long lecture about the place.

"Good evening new trainees, I am Head Peacekeeper Tag. Here at the Academy we are none for turning even the weakest student into a top Career. There will be blood and there will be tears but we do not want to see any of it. If you cry we will only work you harder until you stop crying. If you bleed, you will bleed until you are done for the day unless it is a threat on your life. The only fighting we allow here is in the Hand-To-Hand combat station. Any fighting of any other sort will be punished in immediate termination and sent back to his or her own District." he explained pausing for a moment to see the reactions on everybody's faces. When he was satisfied he continued.

"In a few moments we will give you a tour of the Academy, showing you where you will be training and where you will be living in your time here. After that you will be split off into groups to meet a trainer, that Trainer will decide based on an evaluation whether they want to take you a their own personal Trainee. If they choose you, you have a choice to train with his or her other Trainees or in private sessions. When we are on this tour you will see other students in their training session. They will try to intimidate you, do _not_ let that happen. Because then they will see you as something to pick on, they know every well about the no fighting rule and their punishment for it, so they tip-toe up to the line but never cross it. Do not let them get under your skin. Are there any questions?" he ended finally and nobody speaks up. He turns and gestures for everybody to follow him so we do, not wanting to make him mad.

He shows us the main training room where students practice with swords, knives, spears, hand-to-hand combat, and many other exercises. Next he takes us outside to show us the Dome. This is where they will train us to climb, hunt, swim, and any other outdoor activities that we might need to know. I saw an archery station in the Dome and in the Training Room that he called the TR that I was itching to get my hands on. Lastly he showed us the dorms where the students live during their stay. Avoxs come in weekly to get our clothes to watch them and clean out rooms. We were told that we would have a dorm room partner and it would be somebody from this group of students.

To get the rooms where we would meet with the Trainers we had to go back through the TR, when we walked back through there was different students in there, one particular one kept his eyes on me the entire time, he was tall, almost six foot and still growing, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that, if they were knives, would cut you through your heart, I rolled my eyes at the fact that he was trying to get under my skin and turned back to Peacekeeper Tag but not before seeing the glare of confusion mixed with anger cross the boys face. But now we were split up into groups to meet with a Trainer. And soon they called my name.

I'm in a lonely room in the Academy, the walls and floors are all steel, or rather look like it. I had changed into black pants, shirt, and boots on the train here. Now I wait for a man named Brutus to walk in and as if he was called, he does. He's a tall man with short hair and a thin mustache. He circles me as I stand there, being physically evaluated.

"Where are you from?" he asks coming to stand in front of me.

"Twelve sir." I say strongly. But he only makes a noise of disgust.

"A Twelve kid actually made it here? Are they desperate? A District Twelve rat." he comments which makes my blood boil.

"Don't insult my District." I say through gritted teeth, trying to control my temper. My father always said it would get me in trouble someday. Maybe that someday is today.

"Well what do you have to offer huh? Twelve is full of rats and thieves so it probably isn't much at all." That finally does it. He continues with insulting me and my District. My eye catches a glint of silver of a knife in his jacket pocket and I reach for it.

"Ah!" I scream as I grab the knife, shove him to the wall, and hold it at his throat, catching him by surprise.

"So you are a fighter." He says hoping that I will lower the knife, but I don't. "What's your name?" he asks calmly and I finally lower it.

"Katniss Everdeen." I say and he wrinkles his nose.

"That is in no way intimidating." He says stepping away from me and paces the room. "You need something to go with your spitfire attitude."

"My spitfire attitude?" I question with sarcasm in my voice but he simply ignores me.

"That's it!" he says with a snap of his fingers. "Spitfire."

"So that's what you'll be calling me from now on?" I ask for clarification.

"Yeah why?" he replies with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I don't want people knowing where I'm from so maybe they don't have to know my name either."

"Why don't you want them to know?"

"I will not sit there and let people ridicule me and my District and walked all over me because of where I'm from." I say with anger etched into every word like a carving on a wall. He nodded and starts walking around the room, running his hand across the wall.

"So if I were to pick you as my new student, which I haven't taken one on in a couple of years, would you train with my other students or in private?"

"In private sir." I respond.

"Why?"

"It's easier to intimidate someone and make them fear you if they don't know what they are up against." I say and he lets a grin play across his lips.

"Very true, I wonder why no one has figured that out yet." he says more to himself than he does to me. "You're quite smart aren't you?" he asks and I just nod. "Well that concludes the evaluation. I need to meet with other students and with the Board of Trainers and they will call you in one by one to tell you what will happen." he says and allows me to leave the room. I nodded and went back out into the room with the rest of the new students. Some of them were in separate rooms talking to different teachers so I sat down and just waited.

~Brutus~

"Trainer Brutus," The Head Peacekeeper Tag started and I looked up at him. "pick your new student from the shipment." he ordered. I look at the list of faces, see the one I want, smirk, and lean back in my seat.

"Katniss Everdeen." I say boldly.

"The Twelve Seam rat? Why?" they all said in disbelief.

"That Seam rat has the attitude of a fighter, she could be a survivor, and I want her." I demanded.

"Bring her in." Tag ordered another Peacekeeper.

~Katniss~

I sat there with my head in my hands as I sat with the other new trainees. And I only looked up when the doors opened to reveal a Peacekeeper who pointed to me.

"Twelve, come with me." I stood and followed him into the room with all of the Trainers sitting at an arched table. Peacekeeper Tag sat in the very middle.

"Katniss Everdeen, Brutus has chosen you as his new student. Do you wish to train with the his other Careers or in private session?" he asks.

"In private sir." I stated and he nods.

"Okay, it will be entered into your file, you may go." I am about to turn to leave but Brutus speaks up and stops me.

"Hold it," he commands me so I turn back to face everybody. "I would like to point out that Katniss doesn't want anybody to know where she is from or what her real name is, we have decided that her new name is to be Spitfire, for personal reasons." he says to everybody leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped together.

"Why would she want that?" another Trainer asked, I believe her name in Enobaria.

"Katniss?" Brutus says to me, allowing me to answer the question. So I repeat what I said to him.

"I will not sit there and let people ridicule me and my District and walked all over me because of where I'm from."

"And why do you want to Train in private?" She asks me with a raised eyebrow. I look to Brutus to see if he wants me to answer and he just nods so again I repeat what I said to him.

"It's easier to intimidate someone and make them fear you if they don't know what they are up against." I reply and she nods.

"Very true, how has nobody else figured this out yet?" she says surprised and looks to everybody else.

"Because nobody else has, that I've seen, has as much determination as her. They just want to kill, she wants to survive." Brutus says with an approving smile on his face.

"Okay that will be entered into her file as well. Katni- I mean Spitfire, you may go." I nodded and left the room with a small satisfied smile on my lips, which when the other pupils saw it gave them a piece of hope.

**A/N: Again I am really sorry for not updating any sooner. But life happens, school starts, and sports practice is mandatory. I will try to update again as soon as I can. Hope u enjoyed the chapter. I feel that it was a short one and for that I apologize, the next one should be longer. **


	4. Who Is She?

Chapter 4

~Katniss~

After everybody had their meetings we were taken by our Escorts to our new rooms. Effie dropped me off at my room with the numbers 512 written in gold on the door. I opened it up with a silver key the Effie had given me and found my room mate putting her clothes in a dresser and half of the closet.

"Um, hello?" I says uncertainly. She turned to look a me. Her blonde curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the top of her head. And her green eyes looked at me with curious yet knowing eyes, and her nose was peppered with light freckles. She put down a shirt she was holding, smiled, and pointed to me.

"You're from District 12 aren't you?"

"Um yeah how did you know?" I ask confused.

"You look like you're from Twelve, I've seen the Reapings and you look like them."

"Oh well um, I'm Kat- I mean, Spitfire." I say and hold out my hand which she grasps firmly.

"Luna, what were you gonna say before? Before you said Spitfire." I looked down at my black boots before I looked back up at her.

"My real name is Katniss. But Brutus didn't think it was a good enough name so now he calls me Spitfire because of my attitude." I said.

"You're his new student?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah."

"Do you know how lucky you are? I heard he hasn't taken on a new student in years."

"So he's told me. Who's your teacher"

"Her name is Ellien, I'm training with the rest of her students. How about you?"

"Private sessions."

"Wow that's brave." she comments. There's a silence hanging in the room as we put our clothes away.

"So where are you from?" I asked her, remembering that she hasn't said that yet.

"Oh I'm from District Five. Sorry I forgot to mention that."

"It's fine. Oh and if you don't mind can you not tell people what my name is? Or where I'm from? I don't really want people to know."

"Yeah no problem. Now let's hurry and finish unpacking. We all missed lunch so we have to go to the make-up lunch the made for us new Trainees. If we miss it we go hungry." she said and we unpack like the wind in order to get there on time.

~Cato~

My name is Cato and my last name is not important so nobody needs to know it. I'm fourteen years old and I have been training at the Academy since I was seven years old. When it comes to my family, I don't really talk about them, mainly because everybody knows who they are, so why should I repeat it? If these dumb-asses can't remember anything then that's not my problem. But I will repeat it this one time. My family is what people call and elite family, my father, Casco, owns a masonry in District 2, where I live. My mother, Claret, is the daughter of a famous wine maker from District one. Their marriage was arranged but they knew each other before they got married so it made things easier. I have only one sibling, my brother Citch, he's twenty two years old with a wife of his own named Selima. As a sister-in-law she is one of the nicest people I've ever met to join the family.

As the baby of the family I was spoiled as a kid, hell I'm still spoiled. People say that is why I am so cocky and full of myself, I just call it over confident which I guess is the same as cocky. Anyway since I was spoiled as a child I only thought it was right to spoil my one year old niece, Citch and Selima's daughter, Sessa. This little girl is going to be the most spoiled girl in District Two. Most people don't know this but I do have a soft side and the only people who ever see it is my family and sometimes my friend Clove, she's only twelve.

It was just yesterday that the new shipment of recruits came in to train at the Academy and I was in the TR when I first caught a glimpse of them. There was only one that caught my eye though. She looked different than the others, she stood out. And when I tried to intimidate her, she brushed me off like I was nothing, when in actuality I was the top trainee for my age group, I was a force to be reckoned with. Which means I will definitely have to keep a close eye on her. But I haven't seen her since then, when Tag gave them all a tour. Did she already get into a fight and get sent home? My answers to my question will come soon enough.

"So what's her story?" A fellow Trainee, Kairo, says as he sets his lunch tray down on the table next to me. I look up to see where he's pointing and I see her, the girl I have to watch out for. She looks about my age, long dark brown hair, and gray eyes, just sitting there alone.

"Who is she?" I asked.

"Cato did you not see the new shipment of new Trainees?" Clove asked from across the table from me.

"I glanced. Why should I pay attention?"

"Because it was a surprisingly small one. She was one of them." Yeah I already knew that, I thought.

"Again I ask, who is she?"

"I hear people call her Spitfire but I know it isn't her real name. Well the Trainers call her that." Clove explains with some confusion in her tone.

"I haven't seen her train with anyone." Kairo says turning to his food.

"Must be a private lessoner." Clove muses.

"But hardly anybody here does that." I say annoyed. If she trains alone, she could be a threat, I think to myself.

"Well I guess she does." Kairo comments. I grunt, stand up with my tray and dump it in the garbage without another word on the subject. As I was leaving the cafeteria a Peacekeeper walked up to me.

"Cato?" he asked.

"Yes." I say irritably.

"Brutus wishes to see you in the TR after training hours today." he says then turns to leave again. I continued in the direction I was heading, shaking my head slightly at the Peacekeeper. Brutus could have told me himself during training instead of having a Peacekeeper do it. But I guess he thinks he's too high and mighty for that. When I entered the TR the smell of metal hit my nose, and that smell was one of the best I've known, the smell of a sword or a spear. And what was music to my ears was the sounds of metal hitting metal and people grunting as they swung a sword, threw a spear, or threw a knife. This place was heaven to me. I went straight to the swords station, got in my stance and started swinging, chopping up any dummy in the area, soon an Avox had to come and replace them because I ran out.

I had spent the rest of the day in the Training Room listening to different Trainers teach us how to handle a spear, sword, mass, or any type of weapon. I rolled my eyes at them when they treated me like I didn't know what I was doing. But what really annoyed me was when I didn't see my own Trainer, Brutus, in this room at all. Where could he be? Oh well, soon training hours were over and I stood in the TR alone, waiting for him. He said he wanted to talk to me but about what, he didn't say. I might as well get in some training while I wait. So here I stood, throwing spears at targets twenty feet away when he walked through the door.

"You sent a message saying you wanted to talk to me?" I asked throwing the last spear on the rack and going to collect them.

"Yes, it's about training," he started.

"What about it?" I said putting the weapons on the rack and giving him a quizzical look.

"I've taken on a new Trainee." He states bluntly. I throw one with extra force at this comment. I was his most recent and his last student to take on. Why did he take another?

"No one new has been in sessions." I counter.

"This one wants private sessions." he states and it didn't take me long to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"It isn't the one they call Spitfire is it?" his silence gave me the answer I needed. "Why her? What District is she even from?" I yell.

"That isn't important. I want you to treat her with some respect. She doesn't want her District known." he shouted, his voice echoing off the walls. I scoff at him.

"Since when do you follow orders?" I retort. He takes a few steps towards me and push me again the rack of spears.

"Since I met this girl. She's a fighter and a survivor, I know her past and what she can do. I took her as a Trainee because I know that if she goes into the Games, she will win."

"If she goes in on my year, I'll kill her myself." I threaten. But he stood tall and proud, like he usually does, and looked at me.

"She got the drop on me when I met her. It wouldn't surprise me if she gets the drop on you as well." he said as he headed towards the door, not looking back.

In a rage, I ran towards the swords and cut up every dummy in sight. Until there was nothing left but little pieces on the ground. Imagining Spitfire's face on each and every dummy I chopped up, and her blood spilled everywhere everywhere on the floor.

Once every dummy and target had been chopped up into pieces I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that I had an hour to get home before the curfew was up. Who knows why we need a curfew but what ever. I put the sword back on the rack and raced out of the Academy and didn't stop until I got home. When I opened the door to my home the first noise I heard was the sound of Sessa laughing, which instantly brought a smile to my face. But Citch saw right through it. He was sitting at the kitchen table feeding Sessa her dinner. A jar a mush that I don't want to know what it is.

"Hey Citch." I said to him then looked at Sessa. "Hi Sessa." I cooed. This little girl definitely has a soft spot in my heart.

"You're not fooling me Cato. You walked in with a glare on your face. What's up?" he asked being the good big brother.

"Brutus took on another student." I say reluctantly. He nods slightly and sighs.

"Yeah I heard." he said and my head snapped in his direction.

"How do you know? He just told me today." I almost shout.

"Peacekeepers talk." he simply stated. "Do you know who it is?"

"I know who but I don't know anything about them. She wants to keep everything a secret." I explain resting my elbows on the kitchen table.

"So it's a she." he says looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I looked at him with a confused glare and he smirks, not saying anything.

"What?" I question.

"Don't tell me you're jealous of a girl. That's beneath you little brother." he said feeding another spoonful of something to the giggling girl.

"That's insane why would I be jealous?"

"Because Brutus hasn't taken on another student since you until now. She's gotta be talented at something. Do you know what it is?"

"No," I say glumly. "he just said that she's a fighter and if she goes into the games she'll survive."

"And what did you say?"

"That if she went into the games on my year that I'd kill her myself." I say repeating the threat.

"Lighten up man, maybe she's from an outer District where they don't volunteer." he suggested.

"Then why would she be here to train?" I ask.

"Maybe to protect her family." he said taking a pause. "What's her name anyway?"

"Spitfire." I reply.

"Well just don't get caught in her flame." he jokes before taking the now messy Sessa to give her a bath. I make a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh before climbing the stairs to my room.

**AN: **

**Dear readers,**

**I know that it has been a long time since I have updated but please know that anybody who gives me a review, on either story, that is harsh, rude, or maybe even threatening to try to get me to update sooner will not work. I have received a few reviews and private messages telling me to update using insults and threats. If this continues I will not only stop updating my stories but I will also pull them from fanfiction. I do not wish to do so but if it continues then I reluctantly will. Please keep this in mind when you choose to review for message me about my stories because I will not stand for this and I am not afraid to report these messages or reviews because I have already done so with a few that I thought were out of line. **

**Sincerely,**

** .Mockingjay**


	5. Defect

Chapter 5

~Katniss~

I crumpled to the floor after falling off the rope course for the first time the next day. I slammed my fist on the floor and groaned. I was having a private training session with Brutus and it wasn't going to well in my opinion.

"Get up." he ordered. I stood up quickly and looked at him. "This is the first time you've fallen off this after doing it several times. Why?" he demanded.

"My hands are getting raw from the ropes." I retort. He looks at me and nods.

"Fine. Knives now." he said pointing to them. I walk over and pick one up, balancing it in my hand and getting a good grip. I stare at the target a good ten feet from me. I take my stance and throw it, hitting the third outer ring, bu with a good stick. He huffs behind me and steps toward me.

"Get in your stance." he says harshly, so I do, not wanting to make him anymore mad. "Widen your feet about an inch." I comply then he puts another knife in my hand. "Show me your grip." he orders and I take a grip on the knife. He slightly adjusts it before stepping back. "Now throw it." he says and I do. It lands in the ring outside the center of the target. So close. I think to myself. I turn back to look at him for any critiques and he just nods. "Now just work on your aim." he says and I turn back to continue throwing them, soon I am hitting bulls eye after bulls eye.

"Well about time." I say out loud.

"Back to the rope course. The lunch bell should ring in five minutes. Climb it in three and then we'll be done until after lunch." he explains. And I nod walking over to it. I have a two hour session with him just before lunch then three hours later after lunch, I have a four hour training session. And in the time that I'm not training with him, I am running on the track outside, doing laps in the pool to improve on swimming, or I'm in the weight room improving my strength. These skills I don't mind people seeing, because they won't help me kill anything. I stand at the beginning of the rope course and wait for my signal to go. He pulls out a stop watch and starts it and I take off, climbing up, down, around, and over different ropes to get to the finish. When my feet touch the finish panel a sound goes off in the room signaling my finish. He clicks the stop watch and reads off the time.

"Two minutes and fifty five seconds. Very good. You may go." he says and I run out of the PTR, the Private Training Room, and head to my room quickly to change out of the sweaty clothing. I pull on brown cargo pants, brown combat boots, and a dark blue t-shirt, fix my braid before I head down to the lunch room. As I grab my food and sit down by myself waiting for Luna to get here, I take notice to the TTT, which I've learned that means Top Trainee Table, where two boys and a small girl sit, just the three of them. I just know that the girl and the other boy are Enobaria's top students, while the blonde boy is Brutus's. I don't know their names, but I'm sure I don't want to if they are the Top Trainees, they could kill me easily. But some people I guess aren't that smart I think while some people come up and tease the girl about something. Luna sits across from me with her tray of food.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" she asks and follows my gaze.

"Why are they making fun of her?" I ask and she shrugs.

"Something about her family I think. I've heard stuff but nothing concrete." she says before taking a bite of her chicken. All they feed us here is stuff to bulk us up, most of it is tasteless but it's more than I would get at home so I try to eat it all without getting sick.

"So little Clovie, how's it like being defective like your family." some guy taunts her.

"Leave me alone." she says angrily gripping her knife. Her knuckles turning white as she gripped it harder and harder.

"Why do you train? You'll never be good. It must run in the family huh? With your brother the way he is, tell us, what's you defect?" they say and she storms out of the room after elbowing one of the guys in their stomachs, luckily nobody sees it so she gets away with it. Soon Luna finishes her lunch and bids me a goodbye before leaving me alone. As I sit there alone I feel eyes on me, I don't have to look up to see who is staring at me. He's been watching as much as he can when I'm in the same room as him. This blonde boy, why does he have such an interest in me? I have done nothing to him, let alone say one syllable to him, so why the interest? When I finish my food I take care of my lunch tray and walk out the door where the dark haired girl walked out of. After having Prim for a sister, it is almost second nature to help people when they might need someone to talk to.

~Clove~

I had to get away, form the teasing, judging, everything. I love Proti, he's my baby brother, but just because he has a physical defect doesn't mean I have a defect of some sort as well. So here I sit, on these steps of the Training Academy that leads to the outside track. I had to clear my head. And my silence was short lived because someone decided to interrupt it.

"You okay out here?" a voice asked. I turned to see who it was and found that it belonged to Spitfire.

"What's it to you?" I remarked.

"Nothing," she said holding her hands up in mock defense. "you just look like you have something to get off of your chest."

"Well since everybody talks about it around me, and you're bound to hear about it I might as well tell you." I said turning back around. She sat down, pulled her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them, facing me.

"Is this what people say about you?" she guessed.

"They think because my brother has a physical defect then that means that I'm defected too."

"But hasn't Enobaria picked you as one of her top students? She doesn't seem to think that you have a defect." she points out.

"She's one of few who seem to think that. I just want to prove that I'm good enough. And if I win then it'll help my family and brother." I explain.

"I get it. You're doing this for family." she said and I turn to her. An idea popped into my head and I want to see how much I can get her to talk.

"What about you Spitfire?" I take a pause after saying her "name". "Why are you doing this?" I asked and she let out a chuckle.

"The same reason as you are." she said before Brutus opened the door.

"Spitfire, you're lifting today." he ordered and she nodded as he left, letting the door close behind him.

"Got something to prove?" I challenge with a smirk as she stands up. She looks down at me and lets out a heavy sigh.

"For family." she corrects and is just about to walk through the door when I stop her again.

"So is Spitfire your real name or what?" I ask her, my prying side coming out a bit.

"It is when I'm here." she comments turning back to me. I stand up to face her and look up at her, she is a good half of a foot, it not more, taller than me.

"And when you're at home?" I pry a little more. But she sees right through it and laughs.

"Nice try but I'm not gonna tell you what my name is or where I'm from." she said to me. She turns to go back into the TR when I stop her once again.

"I'm Clove by the way." I say and she nods, opening the door and walking inside to follow her Trainer's orders. She's lifting today, maybe Cato will have better luck talking to her, if he lifts some weights too. I walk back inside to see him still at the table and he's getting up to put away his lunch tray. I walk briskly up to him and demand his attention.

"Where did you go off to?" he asked curiously setting his tray down and turning to walk out of the room.

"Sit on the steps, I talked to Spitfire." I say walking next to him. He stops suddenly and turns to me.

"You what?"

"Talked to her. She wanted to see if I was okay so I told her what I was upset about."

"She say anything to you?" he questioned.

"I tried that, I asked her why she was training here and she said the same reason I was, for family. I tried prying into her and finding out her name and where she's from but she saw right through it and wouldn't tell me."

"That's all you got?" he demanded. I rolled my eyes at him and smirked.

"Yep, but I know what she's doing right now." I offered. His eyes lit up slightly at this bit of information.

"Tell me."

"While we were talking, Brutus came out and told her to lift weights today. Something tells me that it was a change of plans. Who knows how long she's gonna be there though. But maybe you'll have better luck than I did getting info from her."

"If she wouldn't talk to you, a girl, then why would she talk to me?" he questioned. Really? How dense can he be?

"Well I was thinking you could charm it out of her dumb ass." I said walking away from him, leaving him in the dust.

**A/N: ok so I am really proud of myself because I may have been home sick all day but I've been productive because I have finished Mysteries Made. Don't worry it is no where near done but there is a little *cough* surprise *cough* at the end of it that I think or hope you might like. Reviews are much appreciated but I won't force you to leave them. I hope you liked this chapter though!**


	6. One Way or Another

Chapter 6

~Cato~

Clove had a point. I could easily try to charm some information out of Spitfire. I mean come on, no girl can resist my charm, except maybe Clove herself. But besides her, the girls fawn over me at my feet. I'm the best looking thing at this Academy. I smirk and head to the weight room. When I walk in I don't see Spitfire there yet. Could Clove be wrong? Could she have heard wrong? No, Clove doesn't make mistakes like that. Well instead of standing here like an idiot I might as well go change and get some lifting in. I walk into the locker rooms and change into the proper clothing and walk back out. I stop dead in my tracks when I see her, Spitfire, sliding weights onto a bar to get ready to lift. She doesn't have a spotter, but the weight she's lifting isn't much. Forty pounds total, must be a new starter at lifting if that's all she can manage. I put of my nicest face I can muster and walk over to her.

"Well if it isn't the famous Spitfire." I comment as I get close to her, she glances at me, rolls her eyes and continues what she's doing. "You know you should really have a spot when you lift." I offer and she scoffs.

"Get bored with your staring?" she says bitterly.

"Maybe." I says and lightly put my hands on the bar she continues to push up and down repeatedly. "Maybe not." I try to flirt, it's hard when I don't get a good reaction.

"Why do you stare District Two?" she asks, setting the weights up and sitting up. Wait she did fifteen reps that easily, maybe she's just pacing herself.

"District Two? How do you know I'm from here?" I say sitting next to her, moving her legs slightly. I have a slight smile on my face still trying to play nice. "My name is Cato by the way." I continue but she ignores me.

"Because you look like the rest of them."

"Like what?" I ask with a raised eyebrow, but still with a smile on my face.

"A Capitolite." she insults. I am nobody's lap dog.

"I'm gonna act like you didn't say that."

"Whatever." she says laying back down and doing another fifteen.

"You know it'd be easier to talk if we actually knew something about each other." I comment standing back up, putting my hands on the bar just in case she needed a spot.

"So you want to know things about me?" she pried.

"Yeah." I say with a smirk. "Call it a trade. You tell me about you and I'll not only tell you about me but I'll let you in on some training secrets, like say how to handle a weapon." I offer.

"Fine, you wanna know about me? Well here it is." she says putting the bar up not finishing her fifteen and standing up to face me. "My name is Spitfire and I'm not going to tell you what my real name is," she starts with a hard glare and walking towards me until I'm back up against the wall, and she continues to talk as she does so. "I'm not going to tell you where I'm from or what it is I can do. I don't need your help because I'm sure I can get the same tips from Brutus. So quit it with the fake smile and flirting because it's gonna get you nowhere." she says and I'm finally backed up to the wall. "Are we clear?" she asks and I glare at her.

"Crystal, now get out of my way. I have to train too you know." I say, shoving her out of the way and walking over to where she previously was lifting, but adding sixty pounds to it. Unfortunately she doesn't leave the room like I thought she would. I hoped I pissed her off enough to get her to leave. But no, she simply walks over to a dumb bells and starts lifting those, to work on her biceps and triceps. Every so often I glance at her, sometimes she is taking a break, others she is lifting again. And the next few hours went on like that until Brutus walked in.

"Spitfire, lets go." he says and she nods following him out. He didn't even look at me. What the hell am I to him?

~Katniss~

Brutus worked me extra hard after lunch, throwing knives and spears. Starting at the lowest weight and waiting until I threw each one perfectly, hitting the center every time. And after an hour of throwing, I'm only hitting the second ring. But when he let me go for the day I was happy to leave. My hands were red and aching from throwing non stop. I collapsed on my bed once I entered my room and I just laid there until Luna walked through the door.

"Hey-, wow you look like you were worked hard." she says.

"My hands kill." I complain then realize what I said. "No pun intended." I say and she lets out a strained chuckle.

"I get what you mean." she says kicking her shoes off and sitting on her bed. "Hey do you wanna go explore District Two? Maybe in a little bit so we can recuperate?" she says and I turned over onto my back and rest myself on my elbows.

"Yeah but give me a few minutes." I say and collapse back on my back.

"Sure, how does twenty sound?" she offers.

"Perfect." I reply and take a deep breath.

Walking through District Two after training hours was interesting. Luna and I gawked at the stone work on the buildings without looking ridiculous. And as we walked we hummed a familiar tune between both of us that has yet to be named. While we sat for those twenty minutes in our room we just started humming and came up with the tune. I wasn't exactly paying attention as to where I was going until I bumped into a family from this District.

"Oh I'm so sorry sir." I say frightfully. But the man just chuckled. He was tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, much like Cato. Maybe they are related, but now that I look around me, a lot of people are blonde and blue eyed.

"No harm done. I actually wanted to talk to you girls." he says to us with a simple smile on his face. He actually seems nice, unlike some people from here.

"Us? Why us?" Luna asked surprised.

"Well my daughter seems to like that song you were humming." he said gesturing to his darling baby girl in his wife's arms. The girl smiled and giggled as we looked at her, wearing a dress the color of the sun with white flowers decorating it, white shoes, and a white hat. She reached her hands out towards me, opening and closing her tiny fists repeatedly.

"She likes you." his wife complimented with a smile.

"She's adorable." I reply back.

"Anyway I was wondering if that tune had a name." the man asked.

"I'm sorry that was just something we thought up on the spot." Luna explained.

"I see." he says looking a little disappointed. "Oh where are my manners?" he starts and I immediately think of Effie and her rants about manners. "My name is Citch and this is my wife Selima and our daughter Sessa." Citch introduced.

"I'm Luna and this is..." she trailed off not knowing whether or not to use my real name.

"I'm Spitfire." I finished for her.

"Spitfire, I've heard about you. You train at the Academy with Brutus right?" he asked.

"That is correct." I say with a matter-of-fact tone in my voice.

"It's amazing what she can do." Luna bragged, earning a warning look from me.

"What can you do?" Selima probed.

"She won't tell."

"I figure a mystery can be a scare tactic of intimidation. If people know that you're good but don't know what you're good at they could get scared." I explain further.

"Can we at least know hat District you are from?" Citch asked, I know what he's doing and I won't buy it.

"It's all part of my mystery." I said simply. A clock on a tower chimed eight o'clock and curfew was in half an hour.

"Sorry but we have to go. Spitfire come on!" Luna says loudly, tugging me away.

"Nice meeting you!" I call over my shoulder as we round a corner.

~Cato~

I closed the door to my house and leaned against it., making it home just in time before curfew. Adults get to be out however late they want whereas kids under eighteen; well we have a stupid curfew. At eight freaking thirty at night! What type of curfew is that? After a few seconds I get off of the door and walk through my big house to the kitchen to grab a water bottle, then hearing the front door open and close again. Citch, Selima, and a giggling Sessa come into the room and brought a smile to my face. I love my niece so much that I spoil her.

"Hey brother. How was training?" Citch asked. I slammed my water bottle down on the counter thinking about today's events again.

"Don't remind me." I reply flatly.

"This wouldn't happen to be about a girl would it?" Selima asks with a knowing tone.

"So what if it is?" I ask bitterly.

"She reject you or something?" Citch asked.

"I tried talking to her to get to know her and maybe offer her some training tips. But she keeps everything a secret and plays head games. And that's my job. I play the head games." I lash out and take another gulp of water.

"Is it Spitfire?" my brother asks and I whip my head in his direction.

"How do you know?"

"We met her, she's a nice girl."

"You talked to her?" I accused.

"Sessa just fell in love with a tune she and her friend were humming." Selima explained readjusting Sessa on her hip. "And we wanted to know the name of it." she finished.

"Did you get what you wanted?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"There was no name." Citch said sounding disappointed.

"Did you find anything else about her? Like where she's from or what her real name is?"

"She won't say. She just said that a mystery can be a scare factor." my sister-in-law said.

"Well she is a mystery. But she isn't scaring anybody." I said grabbing my water bottle off the counter. "I'll be in my room." I say before running up the stairs, taking two at a time.

I stormed into my room and threw my water bottle across it. No one in my life has ever spoken to me with such disrespect as _she_ did. Much less a girl. I don't understand it. Girls trail after me hoping to gain my attention but I never found one that captured my interest. But this girl, this one girl, the one everybody called _Spitfire_ somehow has. She didn't just capture it, she kidnapped it. But not in the way all of the other girls think. She didn't take it because I'm interested in her in a romantic way, she took it by my interest in a challenge. She's different than the others in the Academy. She's a mystery that doesn't want to be revealed. But I intend to reveal it to the world. One way or another.


	7. Shopping Partner

Chapter 7

~Katniss~

I was asleep when the banging started. I opened my eyes and looked at he clock on the night stand between mine ad Luna's bed. Four in the morning? Training doesn't start until six and I don't have to be up for another hour. But the banging continued and it was coming from the door, an since Luna managed to sleep through it I got up, smoothed out my hair and opened it to reveal a Peacekeeper.

"Spitfire?" he questioned and I nodded. "Brutus requests you." he says firmly. "Now."

"Can I get changed first?" I asked with more attitude than I intended and he nodded. I shut the door, took a five minute shower, brushed me hair, changed into a red tank top, black pants, and my combat boots. I left a small note for Luna on my bed and walked out the door. He lead me to the track outside and as we walked I managed to braid my hair over my shoulder. I saw Brutus standing on the track and I walked towards him as the Peacekeeper left.

"Why am I out here so early?" I asked him. "Training doesn't start for a while."

"Don't complain." he said harshly. "And you are out here because this is the only time it's available today. It's been booked by another Trainer. Now I want five laps. Now." he commanded and I started running. Half way through I started to get tired but I knew that if I stopped I'd be in big trouble. So I pushed through it, remembering why I was here and trying to ignore the pain of the cramps. When I was finally done I stood there in front of him trying to restrain myself from collapsing on the ground.

"That was slow. Did you eat anything this morning?" he questioned.

"No because the cafeteria wasn't open when I was brought here." I replied. He growled and walked to a bag I had just noticed and handed me an apple.

"I told that damn Peacekeeper to bring you some food when he got you." he grumbled as I bit into the apple. "Sit we need to talk." he said and sat on a bench near the side of the track. I sat on the ground and continued eating. "At the end of the month there is a Trainee Dinner. Where Trainers and their students all meet the cafeteria and have this big feast. Students mingle with students and the Teachers keep notes and find out which students meld together better than others."

"So basically its to see which Trainees will be better in an alliance if they go into the games together?" I asked between bites.

"Actually yeah. We have one each month up until the games. And at the last one there are certain students who are chosen to volunteer if they so please. If they are compatible for an alliance in the Career pack."

"Okay. So?" I ask a little confused.

"So I know you want your identity kept a secret and that it going to be hard at this thing. Do not be surprised if other students start to act hostile towards you."

"I've been told that my personality sucks and I wouldn't want to go into the Games by choice. And if I did it would only be for my sister." I say with an edge in my voice.

"Then why are you here?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"In two years my sister will be old enough for the Games and I won't allow her to put her name in extra times. And there is no way I will let her go into the Hunger Games. If she gets Reaped I will volunteer for her and win."

"That's all?"

"No, in my District people die of starvation everyday. I hunt for food to provide for my family. That's how I got here. The Peacekeepers know me an what I can do. Some of them even buy some of the game I get. If I never have to go into the Games then I will be able to hunt that much better." I say and he nods.

"This dinner will be formal. Do you have anything to wear?" he asked and I shook my head no. "Well then you are going to have to go shopping sometime this month. And I know somebody else who will need to as well." he says and I look at him suspiciously.

"Am I going to know who it is?" I say after a few minutes of silence when he doesn't continue.

"Not yet. You'll meet her later today." he says and stands up when he notices that I'm done with my apple. "Now let's get back to training." he says and leads me into the PTR. He has me do the obstacle course five times and has me throwing spears again until I hit the center of the target, which takes me about an hour. And when I finally hit it, he has me throw more until it's consistent. As I was throwing them he spoke to a Peacekeeper who curtly nodded and left the room. And as time grew closer and closer to lunch Brutus finally stopped me.

"Get the spears and put them back on the table." he said I nodded and retrieved them.

"May I ask why you stopped me so early?"

"You're going to meet your shopping partner." he stated and turned to face the door.

"I, uh, okay." I said somewhat at a loss for words. So I stood there, itching to do something, as we waited for this girl to walk through the door. And sure enough, one minute later, she walked through the door and nearly knocked me off my feet.

"Clove?" I asked him.

"Hello to you too Spitfire." she says to me and turns to Brutus. "Why am I here?" she questions with an annoyed glare on her face.

"Enobaria has told me that you aren't allowed to wear dress pants and shirt to the monthly dinners anymore. Which means you'll have to wear a dress." he said pacing between Clove and I.

"Yeah, so? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well say hello to your shopping partner." he said gesturing to me. Since the one this month will be her first she needs a dress. Enobaria and I figure that you could shop together."

"But why us? I mean no offense Clove but sir we hardly know each other. And I'm sure there's other girls who need a new dress."

"Didn't seem that way when I saw you two talking the other day." he said and both of us girls were prepared to rebut the statement but he stopped us. "It is decided, you will go shopping tonight after training hours and money will be dropped by your rooms as soon as they end.. Now off to lunch." he dismissed us and we walked out, grumbling.

"Why does he think we need partners to go _shopping_?" I think out loud as soon as the PTR door closes.

"Because he knows that I'll be stubborn as hell when it comes to wearing one. And something tells me that you don't wear one either." she comments.

"It has to be a very special occasion for me to be seen in a dress is I can help it." I reply and we walk into the cafeteria and make our way to the food line. People give us funny looks as we pass them not understanding why the two of us are even speaking to each other.

"Well I guess this has to be special enough." she says and I snort.

"If that's the, let's make sure we turn heads." I say with a sly smile and she returns it. We have reached the end of the food line and have our trays full of food.

"I like the way you think Spitfire." she says as we walk away from the line and towards the tables. "You wanna come sit with us?" she asked nicely gesturing to the table where she, Cato, and that other boy sit. The boy is giving us a confused look while Cato sends me a death glare but I just shrug it off.

"Nah, not really my scene. I'm just gonna eat with my roommate." I say and she nods.

"Okay well see you after hours." she says and walks towards the TTT. As I walk to my usual table and wait for Luna, I feel eyes on my back and I don't have to turn to see that they belonged to Cato. What did I do this time? I thought to myself. Oh right, nothing.

~Cato~

I stared at her as she entered the room with the most unlikely person I could think of. I would've stared at her anyway just to put her on edge but when she came into the cafeteria with Clove now I really had to stare bu for a different reason. They were talking, almost as if they were friends. And when they had their food from the food line I saw a smile on their faces. Clove said something to her and gestured towards Kairo and I, and when Spitfire looked at us I responded with a death glare, she shook her head and they went their separate ways. But I kept my eyes on her and she never looked up, like she knew _I _was watching her. I was pulled out of my gaze when Clove sat down in front of me.

"So what have I missed?" she asked like nothing happened.

"Why were you talking to _her_?" I demanded and she smirked.

"Why are you jealous that she actually talks to me and not you?" she asked and I growled in anger. "Okay fine, if you must know Enobaria and Brutus are making the two of us go shopping for a new dress for the feast at the end of the month." she snapped and Kairo chuckled. I know she hates wearing dresses but I let it slide. I wanted to know something else.

"What did you say to her before you girls split?" I asked.

"If she wanted to sit with us."

"And she obviously said no." Kairo said before taking a bite of plain pasta.

"Not only that, she said it wasn't her scene." Clove said and I growled again.

"What is she to be the judge of that?" I thought out loud.

"Maybe Cato's death glare scared her away?" Kairo suggested.

"Doubt it." Clove said and I sent a death glare in her direction and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Cato you told me she blew you off yesterday when you tried talking to her. What makes anybody think she'd be scared of you now?" she pointed out and I turned back to my food and glancing in Spitfire's direction as she ate with her roommate, whose name I learned is Luna from District 5.

"Why do you have such an interest in her Cato?" Kairo said.

"She's a mystery that I intend to reveal, and a challenge I plan to beat." I state with a hard stare.

"You sure she doesn't just fascinate you Cato?" Clove challenged and I glared at her again.

"Not in the way you're implying." I said, I know she thinks I like this girl, but that is not the case what so ever.

"Maybe you'll change your mind at the feast." she says to herself under her breath as she pokes at her food. I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to hear it but I did anyway. I ignored what it could possibly mean and ate my food, ready to get back to my training.

_**A/N: sorry it's so short but there's going to be a little drama that happens in the next chapter. Not a lot but a little. Plus this chapter was a bit of a filler. Sorry about that. The next one will be little bit longer so please bare with me because the chapters will be getting longer as they go on. **_


	8. Ten Times Over

Chapter 8

~Katniss~

It's an hour after training hours ended and Clove and I have been shopping since then. We haven't found anything. We don't want to look like Capitol people but we don't want to look like outcasts either. We stood in a a dress boutique sorting through dresses.

"So how formal is this thing?" I asked her curiously.

"Pretty formal, like we have to wear heels." she said in disgust and I myself wrinkle my nose, and she notices. "You don't like them either huh?" she says with a chuckle and I shake my head no. "What about this dress?" she asked holding up a dark pink, thin strapped dress that looked like it ends just above the knee.

"For me or for you?" I asked pointing to it. She gave it a once over.

"For you. Pink it's really my color." she said.

"Same here, if it was a lighter pink then maybe." I said and she put it back on the rack and we continued looking. Finally after a few more hours of searching we finally found what we wanted. And since we can't wear the same dress month after month we bought seven, yeah **seven**. Mine varied in colors as did her's. One of mine was gold, another was red, another was a dark blue, two of them were black and another two were green. Clove had a red dress with black floral patterns on it, another was a orange, then one was black across her bust with a black belt and from the waist down was a light shade of pink, like me two of her's were black, she also had one that was white, and one that was black with a bronze lace overlay. **(AN: there is a link on my profile, same for the shoes.)** Now all we needed was shoes. With our bags in hand we left the store to find a shoe shop. We had about two hours left until curfew so we had to hurry.

"What size shoe are you?" she asked me and I had to think for a while. I only own a few pairs.

"A six a think." I say.

"Either you have small feet or mine are big cause I do too." she said and I laughed slightly.

"Well then maybe we don't have to buy so many pairs. We can just share?" I offered and she nodded.

"Perfect besides I don't want people think that I'm going all girly on them." she said and I chuckled.

"Come on let's find a shop so we can get home before curfew." I said and she snickered.

"You know this is actually kind of fun. I thought I would be torture." she said to my surprise. And I'll admit, I'm surprised myself that I am having a little bit of fun. Maybe I might have another find besides Luna. We walked into an interesting looking store that sold shoes and just got some plain red ones, black ones, gold ones, and white ones, to go with all of our dresses. We must have spent a longer time in there than I thought because when we walked out of the store talking about our new stuff the clock on the tower chimed eight.

"Oh I got to go. See you tomorrow." I called to her and took off to the Academy. When I shut the front door to the building it was eight twenty five. Five minutes to spare, I thought to myself as I walked through the halls to my dorm room. When I finally unlocked the door and opened it up I found Luna sitting on her bed messing with a tablet. When she looked up at me and noticed the bags in my hands she smiled.

"Hey, are those the dresses?" she asked.

"Yes, and wait til you see them." I set the bags on my bed and laid out all of the dresses, she gaped at them.

"You are gonna turn heads at the feast." she said with a smile.

"That was the plan. Shopping for these with Clove was actually kinda fun. We still have money left over too." I said taking the extra money out of my pocket and setting it on the night stand.

"Do you have to return it?" she asked and I shrugged.

"I don't know. I'll ask Brutus tomorrow." I said putting the dresses up on my side of the closet and setting the shoes on the floor. Clove and I agreed that I would hold onto them and she would just come to my here before the feast to get which ever ones she needed.

The next day was different, when I wasn't training with Brutus I was swimming laps in the pool, Clove and Luna were too so I got to introduce them.

"Oh Clove this is my room mate Luna. Luna, Clove." I said gesturing from one to the other. Clove took a little time to warm up to Luna but after a friendly swimming race in the pool they got over it.

"So Luna, where are you from?" Clove asked as we took a five minute break.

"District 5. And you're from here right?" she replied and Clove nodded.

"Any idea where Hot Shot over here is from?" Clove joked pointing to me and I snorted.

"Yep and I'm not going to tell you." Luna said and I thanked her.

"Why not? I mean what's the big deal about it?" Clove asked.

"If told you the reason you would definitely figure it out." I said.

"Fine." Clove grumbled. I shoved her in the pool and she came up and grabbed my foot, pulling me in. after the three of us got yelled at by a Trainer for slacking off, we earned ten laps. Once I finished them I looked at the clock and noticed the I had ten minutes to get to the PTR.

"Sorry guys, gotta go." I said pointing to the door. I raced to the locker room to change back into my clothes then raced to the Private Training Center where I found Brutus and a Peacekeeper dress in a uniform for Hand-To-Hand combat. Oh no, I thought.

"Today you're doing combat training." I mentally groaned and walked toward them. He taught me what I needed to know about getting in the proper stance and first we worked on blocking the attack. "Now before we can land any hits on the opponent you must block any potential hits. Now anticipate and react. Go." he said and we went as that. The Peacekeeper throwing punches or kicks and I ether tried to block them or dodge them completely. And so went on until it was time for lunch, I walked in slowly with a bruise or two on my ribs, arms, and face. One right across my left cheek bone, one on the top half of my right arm, two on the left side on my ribs and a third on the right side. I am going to be sore in the morning. When I got through the lunch line, getting water, chicken soup and a chicken sandwich I sat down at my table and waited for Luna to get her food and sit down at our table. And soon somebody set down their tray, but it wasn't Luna, it was Clove. I looked up at her and gave her a confused look.

"What? I can't sit with my other friends?" she asked taking a bit of her sandwich.

"Well yeah but I thought you'd be sitting at your other table."

"Yeah well I'm kinda getting sick of Cato's antics right now."

"What's he going on about?" I asked her and she was about to say something til Luna sat down with us.

"Hey guys, what are you talking about?" she said giving us a curious look.

"Cato is going on about something that's annoying her." I explained pointing to Clove and she nodded.

"It's like he's obsessed with you or something. He keeps going on and on about how he want's to figure out the mystery behind you and just figure you out. It's getting annoying." she says angrily and taking a harsh bite of her sandwich again.

"Why is he so obsessed with "figuring me out"? I mean come on does it really matter?" I asked her while eating a spoonful of soup.

"Well the fact the you're the first student Brutus has taken on since Cato has him upset. So obviously there's something you can do that interests Brutus and Cato is almost desperate to figure it out. He wants to intimidate you and he's upset that you're the only person, besides me, that doesn't fall for his charm." she explains further and we all turn to look at him, his face is red with anger.

"He's probably seeing red right now." Luna said.

"I'd watch out for yourself if I were you." Clove warned and I nodded. "By the way, nice shiner." she says gesturing to my bruised cheek.

"Combat training." I stated simply and took a big gulp of soup, letting the warmth of it trail down my throat.

"I'm surprised they let you leave like that." Clove says to me.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked her, confusion evident in her voice.

"Usually when you get a cut or bruise during training them give you this cream that makes it go away, I'm surprised they didn't give you any." she says and I just shrug in response.

"Maybe they'll drop some off by our room?" Luna suggests and I nod hopefully.

"Hopefully." I say as I lightly brush my hand over the not purple and blue bruise on my arm. "They'll probably say suck it up cause if I go into the Games I'll have to deal with it." I say turning back to my food.

"Well what do you know, only been here a short time and you're already thinking like a Tribute." Clove pointed out and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Damn Clove thanks for the encouragement." I reply sarcastically. She was about to say something before she looked over my shoulder and her face went blank. I turned around and came face to face with a seriously pissed off Cato.

"Why are you sitting here with these losers Clove? You should be over with me and Kairo." he taunts

"They aren't losers Cato. If you weren't such a dick and obsessing all the time you would know." she snapped back.

"Please, what can this piece of trash do?" he continued gesturing to me with his hand. I was starting to get pissed but before I could stand up for myself, Clove did it for me.

"Enough for Brutus to take her as a student when everybody knows you were his latest." she said with a smirk.

"Doesn't prove anything." he says with a deadly voice that almost made me shiver. Almost.

"Cato will you quit trying to figure me out? I'm not going to tell you or anybody else anything. So give it up. There is nothing special about me that you need to know about."i said standing up to face him, he just glared down at me.

"See that's where you're wrong Spitfire. There is something about you because you are a mystery, a mystery I intend to crack." he says, his voice getting strangely calm and low all of the sudden. His hand reached up and tried to stroke a finger along my jaw, but I slapped it away, making him glare once again.

"Good luck trying to figure out me and my past, I can guarantee that you won't like it." I say before grabbing my tray, taking car of it, and stalking out of the room. Only to have Cato trailing behind me. He grabs my shoulders roughly, turns me around, and shoves me into the wall, holding me there. I stare up into his cold ice blue eyes that are fixed in an even glare.

"I may not like it, but I'll sure have a hell lot of fun figuring it out." he says, his face ending up in a smirk by the end of the sentence.

"Tell me Cato, why the interest. Of all girls in the Academy to become obsessed with, why me?" I challenged.

"There is something about you that captures my interest Spitfire." he says and I give him a confused look, what could I possibly do to catch his interest? I thought. We hardly talk. "And besides, if I can't figure you out for myself, I'll do whatever it takes to get you to tell me _everything_ about you." he says before letting me go. He turns to walk away and as he does I get the last word in.

"When Hell freezes ten times over." I state and he stops, turns back to me and glares. I just simply waltz up, brush past him, and give him the most fake smile I can must, and continue to my dorm room to see if there medicine for my bruises. And thankfully there is and Cato didn't follow me again.

~Cato~

That little rat! She thinks that she knows me so well, that she can get the last word in. she is crazy. She thinks that I can't figure her out? I know that I can. And if I can't, which I most likely will, I'll just get her to tell me. I will make her vulnerable and weak and she will succumb to me and she will reveal the her mystery of her to me herself.

But there is something about her that intrigues me. It's a feeling that I've never felt before. It isn't like I want to hurt her or kill her or anything. I just want to know her, something about her draws me to her. I'm not going to lie and say that she isn't pretty because she is, the way her eyes glow with fire, how her form moves when she walks, the way she'll stand up to me when no one else will besides Clove. Like I said, there is something about her. Maybe it's the fact that my niece that I love likes her, or the song that Sessa heard her humming. Does she sing? If she does, does she have a family to sing or? Does she have a family in general? And if so, what are they like? Does she think about me as often as I think about her? And when she looks at me, does she see the brutal Cato everyone else sees? Or does she see something different? These questions just keep running through my head as I make my way to the track out side to do some speed training. I don't know why my head fills with these questions and why I'm so determined to answer them. But someday soon, I hope she will give me those answers one way or another.

When I make it out to the track I stretch before I take off into a run. And as I run I think about the month ahead of me. Later this month is the feast, where all students mingle outside of training, and the Trainers monitor us to see who would be good in an alliance in the games. It a formal occasion, where the boys have to wear black dress pack, shiny shoes, a white shirt, and a jacket. And the girls have to wear a nice shirt with a skirt or a dress, and heels. My mind wanders to what Spitfire is going to wear. I know Enobaria made Clove go shopping to buy a dress because her exception to wearing pants has been terminated, but for Spitfire, it will be her first. Does she know that she has to wear a dress? And if she brought any, is it fancy enough for this dinner? As I run my third lap around the track I see Spitfire walking out the door to the track.

Her bruises are already fading from her arms and face. Brutus must have given her the salve needed to make them go away. She won't have that luxury for long, she better savor it as well as she can. I paused to catch a quick breath and watched her walk over to a bench, set her water bottle on the ground and tank off her t-shirt to reveal a black tank top. Her shirt lifted a little and I caught a glimpse of nasty blue and purple bruise on her ribs. She must know that she has to save the stuff as much as she can. Then without stretching she takes off into a run. Why isn't she with Brutus for training?soon as she runs she catches up to the spot where I stand and passes by, only sparing a glance in my direction. So again I start to run and it turns into a silent competition between us, seeing who can pass the other. We aren't the only ones out here of course. There are those who are running an outside obstacle course, shooting arrows and climbing trees being timed.

Time, the one thing that we can't get enough of. And the one thing that cannot be replaced.


	9. Maybe

Chapter 9

~Katniss~

I did not want to get up today, but I had to. Today everybody did not have to train because they had to be home and get ready for the Feast that started at four this after noon. Apparently, from what Brutus and Clove had told me, there was dancing and mingling before we actually eat. And we don't eat until six. It was currently two in the afternoon. and Clove was in our dorm room so we could all get ready together. I was trying to decide what dress I would wear and I was stuck between my black strapless dress covered in black sequins or my blue dress, with blue sequins across the top and a blue ribbon around my waist.

"Guys, which dress?" I asked them. Clove was currently doing her hair and Luna was drying her hair from the shower she just took. Clove had taken one before she came here and I took one before Luna.

"I say the blue one." Luna says and Clove agrees, I nod and lay it out on the bed while I grab the pair of black heels Clove and I bought.

"Okay so now I need to figure out what I'm going to wear since you're gonna wear the black heels." Clove said looking at all of the dresses she bought and brought over.

"How about the red one? You can still wear the red shoes with it." Luna pointed out.

"True." Clove said, slipping on the shoes and holding the dress up in front of her. "Yeah I'll wear it."

"Great." I said to her and she gave me a small smirk.

"And Spitfire you cannot wear your hair in a braid tonight." she said with a serious look on her face.

"Yeah I know how much you like it but not tonight." Luna agreed.

"Okay so then what should I do with my hair?" I asked them and they got sly smiles on their face. They took my arms and set me down in a chair and went to work on my hair. And after twenty minutes, they had my hair and make-up done. I looked in the mirror in the bathroom and saw it all in curls, not my natural curls but curls curls. My make-up was a white starting by the bridge of my nose and fading to a dark blue to match the color of my dress. I looked _pretty_.

"What do you think?" Luna asked.

"It's different." I said looking at myself.

"But it's all you. Now come on we have to finish getting ready." Clove exclaimed in slight excitement. We finished getting ready and I was wearing my blue dress, Clove was wearing her red with black floral print dress, and Luna was wearing a white blouse with a long flowing light pink skirt and her own pair of white shoes. I had my hair curled on my shoulders while Clove and Luna had their hair up in a pony tail and curled it. It was three fifty when we head down to the cafeteria, and when we walked through the doors people stopped and stared.

~Cato~

I stood in the cafeteria talking to Kairo and another student I train with Brent. There was music playing for those who choose to dance and tables set up for when it's time to eat. As Kairo made a joke Brent ran his hand through his black hair and I laughed with him. It was almost four and I had yet to see Clove and Spitfire, or her roommate Luna. That is until the door opened and everybody turned to look at them. I looked at them and my smile from laughing turned into a small smile of awe. She looked beautiful, I thought before I could stop myself. Her hair fell in curls around her shoulders, her dark blue dress fit her in all the right places and fell just above her knees, and her heels put her now a couple inches shorter than me.

"Is that Spitfire?" Brent asked. But I just kept staring as she, Clove, and Luna walked into the room and started to mingle with other students. Our eyes followed them.

"I think so." Kairo confirmed.

"I am so asking her to dance." Brent said and before I could stop him he walked over to her. I now glared after him in rage.

"Cato, you okay man?" Kairo asked me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah I'm fine." I say wiping my hand over my face wiping away the glare into a calmer look.

"Look man, if you like Spitfire then just go talk to her. Don't try to intimidate her or figure her out. Just make conversation." he said as Brent just got rejected by the girl in question and walked back to us with a disappointed look on his face.

"Get rejected man?" I teased and he glared at me.

"Yeah. She said she didn't want to dance and called me a prick." he mumbled and we started laughing at him.

"Why did she call you a prick?" Kairo asked him.

"I don't know." he practically shouted.

"Well what did you say?" I questioned more.

"I just walked up said hi, she said hi back. I asked why a hot little thing like her isn't dancing in the arms of any guy like me and she said maybe because I don't feel like dancing you prick. And I left it at that and walked away."

"Well for one you treated her like a piece of meat." Kairo said.

"Since when did you become the love guru?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Since my brother got married and taken his tips." he said. I chuckled and looked over at Spitfire and saw she will soon be alone as Clove and Luna walk over somewhere being called to by their Trainers. I took that as my chance to go talk to her.

"Watch and learn boys." I say clapping them on their backs and walk over smoothly to where she stands. She doesn't notice me until I am at her side. "Quite the entrance you made." I compliment, slightly shivering at the way it feels as it leaves my mouth. She turns to look at me and gives me a once over with her silvery gray eyes.

"Thanks." she said sounding a little confused.

"You're welcome. So why are you standing here alone?" I asked her and she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Why are you being so nice?"

"Trying something new." I simply reply.

"Trying to figure me out you mean." it wasn't a question that came from her soft pink lips, it was a statement.

"Not tonight." I said to her and she looked at me even more confused. I held out my hand and she raised her eyebrows at it in question. "Come on you deserve to dance with someone who isn't going to try and get in your pants tonight." I said and she let out a chuckle.

"You're not going to try?" she asked in disbelief.

"I maybe be cocky and arrogant and a total jerk sometimes but I'm not that kind of guy." I said with a small but serious smile on my face. She hesitated for a moment before putting her hand in my still outstretched one. I lightly enclosed my hand around hers and lead her out to the dance floor. People watched us and I took her hand in mine, place a hand on her waist, while she put her other hand on my shoulder and we swayed to the music. I couldn't tell if she had danced before or not, but she seemed nervous. When I put my hand on her waist she grimaced a little bit and and it made me remember her bruises from that day on the track.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Just hoping I don't get attacked by your female fan base tomorrow." she said making me look around seeing other girls that would fall at my feet glaring at the two of us. My instinct to pull her to me protectively sprung into my mind but that would only make them even more mad, so I didn't do it.

"That's not what I meant." I said to her and she looked at me perplexed so I explained further. "you had a grimace on you face when I put my hand around you." I said and she nodded.

"Training has left it's mark." she said with a sigh and I nodded. I was the same way when I started my training. I was coming home with bruises and cut a few times a week, my mother wasn't happy that I was taking it so seriously, she never had wanted me to train.

"It gets easier." I whisper to her. She gave a snort and nodded.

"Practice makes perfect right?" she asked sarcastically but I still nodded. When the song ended I reluctantly let her go off to her roommate Luna and they went to get a drink. I walked back to Kairo who was standing alone watching the entire thing.

"Where's Brent?" I asked him.

"He got mad that you succeeded in what he couldn't and went to find someone to dance with." he explained and I nodded. "So what happened on the dance floor?" he asked.

"Nothing much just made small talk."

"You didn't learn anything?"

"Training is taking it's toll on her." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Well I need a drink." he said and I followed him over to the drinks table, where Spitfire was standing. We stood three or four feet away but I could barely hear what she and Luna were discussing.

"I think he likes you!" Luna whispered loudly and Spitfire scoffed.

"Please why would he? He's got all the other girls in the place." she denied.

"But he chose you to dance with."

"Probably to prove something to his friends."

"Maybe, maybe not. What if you two actually get together? Or what if he asks you out? Are you telling me that is he asks you out on a date you would say no?"

"I don't know what I would do and I doubt that he and I would ever be together, dating someone from another District is so," she paused trying to find the right word. "Unheard of." she finally said. My shoulders slumped slightly at he statement.

"So! My mom is from District three because of an arranged marriage, maybe when he gets older, maybe after he wins the games," she said elbowing Spitfire in the arm with a sly smile. "maybe he'll go for an arranged marriage and pick you. If he wins the games you'd be marrying a Victor." Luna encouraged.

"There is no way I would have an arranged marriage. I'm not sure if I want to get married in the first place." she said taking a sip of her drink.

"Why? You'd have someone there for you and start a family. What a lot of girls want." Luna responded confused.

"I'm never having kids. I will not put them up for the chance of going into the Hunger Games and have to kill anybody." she said defensively. "I will not have that on their conscience." she said then taking another sip of her clear and red drink.

"Okay, okay I get it. But you could still give him a chance."

"If we weren't in training for the games and we lived in the same District, I actually might." she said.

"But?" Luna egged on.

"But we're not so I don't think it's ever going to happen." Spitfire said before Brutus came and spoke to her, pulling her away from her friend and out of my sight. There was a weight on my chest after hearing what all was said between the two of them. Do I like her? Maybe. I'm still not sure of my feelings. I can't have them because I am training for the Games and I am not supposed to have feelings. So I try to push them down and into the back of my mind as much as I can, but a trace still lingers there.


	10. Every Word

Chapter 10

~Katniss~

This night seemed to be going on for ever. I felt like I have been here for ten hours but when I look at the clock, it was now turning six. I stood there talking to Clove while Luna was off talking to some people she trains with, when Brutus and Enobaria came to us.

"Come on, it's time for dinner." Brutus said.

"Okay." Clove and I said together and we followed them to a giant table. Apparently Brutus' Trainees and Enobarias' students were eating together. Clove went to sit next to her Trainer while I looked for a place to sit, and the only one left open was between Brutus and, Cato. Great. We haven't spoken to each other since that dance. This is about to get really awkward. It sit down in the chair and an Avox comes and puts a plate of food I front of each of us. We started to tuck in and the conversations started, most of it was asking me question and I knew they were coming.

"So Spitfire, how has your training been going so far?" Enobaria asked me.

"It's been an adjustment. It took a while to get used to it but I'm managing." I explain vaguely.

"It can't be that different than your home District can it?" she pressed and I looked nervously at Brutus.

"Enobaria, you know very well that her District isn't going to become common knowledge. Drop it." he said with a harsh tone of voice.

"It's just a simple question. No need to get worked up." she said and I just sighed.

"No need to pry either." he retorted.

"Can we just pick another topic?" Clove almost shouted to them. She sat across from me and I mouthed a thank you to her and she just nodded.

"Well she is the topic! No one knows her name except for Brutus, some of the Peacekeepers, and the other Trainers including me, and nobody else knows where she's from. And your reason for that I can totally understand." she said looking at me.

"And what would be that reason?" Cato asked from my left.

"If I told you you'd easily figure it out." I said then taking another bite from my plate. I could feel Cato's eyes boring holes into my face, but I continue to eat what ever kinda of pasta this is.

"So what kind of training has Brutus put you through?" Enobaria asked.

"Now that you can answer." he said to me.

"Um a lot of things. Throwing spears and knives, climbing, obstacle courses, Hand-To-Hand combat, and that's about it so far." I explain to her and she nods.

"Find any that you're really good at?" she pried again and I looked at my teacher, asking if I can answer it.

"Vaguely." he commented back to me, as if reading my mind.

"A little bit but not quite yet." I say and Clove rolls her eyes at me with a chuckle.

"Could you be any more vague?" she asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Yep." I simply state earning a laugh from her and a chuckle from Brutus.

"So do you miss home?" Clove asked me and earned a glare from Brutus. "What I'm not asking about it I just want to know if she misses it. Don't bite my head off." she snapped.

"Like my Hunger Games?" Enobaria said with a sly smile, showing her Capitol given teeth. I mentally shudder and look back to Clove.

"I do actually. There are some things that I don't miss but there are others that I really do miss." I reply.

"What about your family? What are they like?" Enobaria continues with the questions. "And before you snap at me Brutus," she says holding a hand up to him as he opens his mouth. "It's a simple question that gives nothing away and she doesn't have to answer if she doesn't want to." she scolds him and he nods to me allowing me to answer the question if I choose to.

"They are great, they're one of the things I miss the most." I reply feeling like I'm in an interview.

"Is it a big or small family?" Cato asked curiously.

"Pretty small." are the only two words that leave my lips and I know they know that they won't get an answer further. They somehow find a new topic to talk about and I manage to stay out of the conversation for most of it, only talking when I'm spoken to. Finally the night comes to a close and I found Luna and we start heading up to our room, all he while I could feel Cato's eyes on the the back of my head. When we get up to our room and kick my shoes off and chuck them to the closet.

"What is with him lately?" I think out loud.

"What's with who?" Luna asked curiously as she removed her make-up in the bathroom.

"Cato, he keeps staring at me all night, during dinner, after dinner, and when we were leaving." I said to her and I took the opportunity to get changed quickly into my pajamas.

"I told you I think he likes you." she said coming out of the bathroom with a clean face. I walked past her and took her place at the counter to take off my own make-up.

"But he's spent most of his time trying to figure me out, my name, my District, my skills, everything. Why would that suddenly change?" I finished my rant and taking of my make-up at the same time and went to work on my hair.

"Maybe after spending so much time trying to figure you out he has realized his true feelings?" she suggested.

"He's been training since he was a kid for the Games, Careers aren't supposed to feel any emotions because they think it makes them look weak." I rebuke.

"But you thrive off of emotions in your training right?" she asks me and she's right.

"Yeah because they make me work harder so I can't get home to my sister." I say to her.

"Then I don't seen why they can't feel the same way." she said and I was happy that I was getting off the topic of Cato supposedly liking me. "Tell you what, since you seem stressed why don't we go for a walk tomorrow around the District after Training hours?" she offered and I sighed in relief.

"That would be great." I say after finally brushing out my hair. I walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom sitting on my bed.

"Great, we'll leaving half hour after Training Hours?" she says looking at me and I nod. "It'll give us a chance to get cleaned up from working all day." she said.

"Yeah good thinking."

"Well I'm going to bed. Good night."

"Good night." I said and we turned off the lights. I could tell by her light snores that she was asleep five minutes later but I just laid there and thought about what had happened tonight. This was a different side of Cato that I had never seen before. And the only question running through my head was, why?

The next day after training had ended, showering, and changing into regular clothes, I was in a black pants, black sneakers, and a dark blue tank top with my hair in it's usual braid. We walked around the District for a while when we came across a few familiar faces, Citch and, Cato? They were laughing at something and only noticed us when they nearly bumped into us. And Cato would've walked right into me if I hadn't maneuvered out of the way.

"Oh my apologies," Citch started but he noticed it was us and smiled. "Spitfire, Luna, nice to see you again."

"Yeah you too." I say trying to sound happy and keep my eyes away from Cato.

"I take it you know my little brother Cato." he said clapping his little brother on the shoulder.

"Vaguely." Cato responds for me and I roll my eyes.

"Do I sense tension between you two?" Citch asked looking back and forth from Cato to me repeatedly until one of us speaks.

"Nope, like he said we vaguely know each other." I said to him keeping a straight look on my face as I glance from Cato to his older brother. Cato crosses his arms and gives me an annoyed look. What the hell got stuck up his ass? I thought to myself.

"Are you sure?" Citch asked curiously.

"Positive, come on Luna." I say giving her a look that begs for an escape.

"Oh yeah," she says understanding. "There was something I wanted to show you." she says and as we move to walk around the two blonde brothers the older one stopped us once again.

"Wait," he said and we turned to look at him one last time. "I was wondering if you ever gave that little song a name? Selima hums it to Sessa all the time and she loves it." he said proudly.

"No sorry, but we have to go. Bye!" Luna said quickly and rushed me away.

~Cato~

I stood there by my brother's side, listening as he talked to the two girls. When they finally rushed away he turned on me.

"What was that about?" he said to me with a curious glare.

"What was what about?" I asked back trying to avoid the question.

"Don't give me that Cato. People talk. _Peacekeepers_ talk. They told me that they saw you getting close to Spitfire on the dance floor. Now when you see her you act like she hardly exists? Come on brother fess up." he demanded, raising his voice at me. After last night I gave my self a mental check. Training is no place to have feelings or relationships, so there is no way I am going to get close to her. And the only way to do that is to just forget about her and forget about trying to figure her out.

"It's nothing. It was a one time thing and won't happen again." I said and I continued walking.

"And why not?" He continued to question as he caught up with me.

"Because I'm in no place to have a relationship or even feelings!" I rounded on him. "I'm supposed to be a Career training for the Hunger Games, to win them, and I can't do that if I make nice with some girl the I hardly know or want to know. I need to forget about her and focus on my training and I can't do that and be friends or anything more than her at the same time!" I shouted at him, earning the gaze of people surrounding us. I glared at them and they went about their business, but I could still feel some eyes on me.

"So don't go into the Games!" he shouted and I gave him the "what the hell are you talking about" look so he continued. "I didn't go into the Hunger Games and look where it got me! I'm working with Dad at the Masonry, I have a wife and child, and I'm happy. You've seen what being in the Games does to people! Look at Haymitch from Twelve! He drinks all the time, or any of the past Victors from District One or Two, they let the deaths of many haunt them for the rest of their lives! Is that the life you want? Or would you rather have a life with a family that you care about and that cares for you in return?" he said and I stared at him with a hard glare.

"This is what I want. I want to train, so I will and I won't let some girl from who the hell knows where get in the way of it. I'm done trying to figure her out. She means nothing to me and she never will." I declared to him and he gave me a look of defeat.

"Well if you ever go into the Games and you win, don't expect me to be there when you're depressed from taking the lives of children who would rather have a life and a family than die at your heartless hands. You think that being in the Games will bring honor to your family? There is a reason mom didn't want us to train." he said starting to move away, but my next words stopped him.

"How can you say that? You're my brother." I said to him in anger and disbelief at his words but he just looked at me and shook his head.

"This," he gestured to me and my body with his hands. "This isn't how I want my brother to turn out, this isn't who my brother should be, and this certainly isn't the brother I want." he said finally before shaking his head one last time, moving his hands in a "forget you" fashion, and walking away. As I watched him leave I still felt eyes on me and when I rounded to the direction I felt them coming from, my eyes met Spitfire's.

Those eyes, they are filled with anger, sadness, regret, shame, and hate. I will never forget the look she is giving me right now. Like she wants nothing to do with me. She must have heard everything I said to Citch. Part of it was true, that the place that I'm in is not one for emotions and relationships. But the other part of it, where I'm done trying to figure her out and that she means nothing to me, I don't know if it was a lie or not. I involuntarily took a step in her direction but she stepped back and shook her head. She turned and said something to Luna, who seemed at a loss for words, and ran away in the direction of the Academy. Luna shouted after her but when Spitfire kept running, she gave me a hard glare that said she wanted to kick my ass. She looks back in the direction that her friend and roommate had gone and hastily followed with a worried look on her face. Before she rounded a corner that would put her out of my sight, she sent me one last glare, that if looks could kill, I would have a bullet between my eyes right now.

I growl out loud and quite loudly before I stalk in the direction of my house. When I got home I slammed the front door which made my mother and sister-in-law, who both sat in the living room have tea, jump.

"Cato, no need to slam doors honey, what is wrong?" my mother asked me worriedly. I walked into the living room and collapsed into the armchair across from them.

"What makes you think anything is wrong?" I retorted.

"In the time that I've known you Cato, even I can tell that something is wrong." Selima said. "Does this have anything to do with what Citch was grumbling about?" she asked and I sent a slight glare her way.

"Why don't you go ask him?" I challenge, earning a glare from mom. "He's you're husband, I'm sure he can tell you." I said.

"Because I know that when he's as angry as he is, that he needs his space." she says to me, setting her tea on the coffee table.

"And here I thought being married was about being there for the other." I say with a lazy tone in my voice, easily avoiding the conversation that I know my mother wants to have.

"That's part of it but the other part is knowing when the other needs their space, like now for example." she said with a knowing look.

"And stop avoiding things Cato. Explain." my mother demanded in her maternal tone.

"There's this girl at the Academy that I've been trying to get to know." I started.

"I'm going to guess Spitfire?" Mom asks and I look at her confused.

"How did you know?" I asked in return.

"Your brother told me." she said and I nodded.

"Anyway, I've been trying to figure her out and I guess in the process I might have developed some sort of feelings for her. I wasn't sure what they meant, like if they were good or bad. And we danced at the Feast last night and that's when I realized what they meant and I gave myself a mental check. That training is no place to have a relationship or feelings at all. That I was only there to train and I wasn't going to let a girl get in the way of that. When I tried explaining that to Citch he got upset. Saying that I could go and win the Games and live with the grief of twenty three deaths on my shoulders or have a family and find love like he did. I told him that Spitfire meant nothing to me and that I was done trying to figure her out. He said that I wasn't turning into the type of brother that he would want and walked away." I continued, pausing to catch my breath.

"Well I kind of agree with him." my Mom says.

"So you're taking his side?" I accuse.

"Not completely honey. But he does have a point. Look at him or look at your father. Neither of them went into the Hunger Games and look at what they have. They have jobs and a family who loves them. They aren't Victors who keep themselves locked up in their homes all of their lives, having nightmares about the arenas. Haven't you ever heard the story of you Great Grandfather Cato?" she asked me and I shook my head egging her on to continue. "It's who you were named after. He won the 8th Hunger Games when he was sixteen years old. He couldn't live with the deaths in the arena, so he drank himself to death and died of the alcohol poisoning." she said.

"Well I'm not him and anyway, after he left I saw Spitfire, she had heard everything I said, I doubt that she would even talk to me now." I said running my hands through my hair. I heard a scoff and saw that it came from Selima. "What?" I said to her.

"Well you said that you were done trying to figure her out. And that you basically want nothing to do with her anymore. After hearing what you said she probably won't _want_ to talk to you now. You got what you asked for. Why are you upset about it?" she asked rhetorically. She got up and left the room when we heard a crying Sessa upstairs and she was right. Why am I upset about it?

"Honey? Are you okay?" my mother asked me. I looked at her and she had a sympathetic look on her face.

"I really don't know." I reply back to her, looking at the reflections of the lights in the coffee table.

"When you look at Spitfire, what do you think of?" she asked me.

"Fire." I say the first word that comes to my mind. "I think of fire, it's in her eyes, in her attitude. I've never seen anything like her. I can flirt with any girl at the TR and they'll fall into a puddle of goo at my feet but her? She won't fall for it. She doesn't trust me at all and that's never happened to me before. She isn't afraid to defend herself. Her silver eyes could pierce your soul and I'm not gonna lie, she is pretty but not too pretty." I say to her, but not looking up at her though. "And there is something that she can do. Otherwise Brutus wouldn't take her as a Trainee. But she won't tell anybody what it is, or where she's from, or even what her real name is. She fascinates me mom." I say finally looking up at her.

"Does she feel the same about you?" she asks and I immediately think of the conversation I heard at the Feast last night.

"I heard her talking to her friend last night about me. Her friends thinks that I like her and Spitfire doesn't believe it. Luna, her friend, kept going on that if I win the Games that I could marry her, or have an arranged marriage if I don't go in the games. She said to imagine it if Spitfire and I get married and have kids." I said and I have to admit that I have thought about it. And I also have to admit that I liked the image I saw.

"And what did Spitfire say?" she asked me, bringing m out of my musing.

"She said that she didn't ever want to get married. Or have kids, because she wouldn't let the chance of them going into the Hunger Games ever happen. Or put them through the pain of having to kill other kids and have that on their shoulders for the rest of their lives." I explained to her.

"Great minds think alike I guess." she says and I looked at her questioningly. "That's why I didn't want you or Citch to train for the Games." I nodded to her understandingly.

"Did you know that she made friends with Clove?" I asked my mother and she looked at me surprised. "Yeah Brutus and Enobaria made them go shopping together to get dresses for the Feast. And Spitfire got Clove to open up about why she is teased all the time in training. Clove said that she was only training to prove herself and to protect her family and Proti. Clove said that that's why Spitfire is training, for her family."

"Hm, she has family values. Now I want to meet this girl." she said with a a small smile gracing her face.

"I don't think that going to happen now. She probably hates me by now." I said to her, remorse lightly etched in my voice. She gave me an "I know something you don't" look and smiled at me.

"I have my ways. Now go talk to your brother and calm him down. I can't stand to see you two mad at each other." she says before getting up and walking into the kitchen, I'm guessing to make dinner.

~Katniss~

Every word. I heard every word that he said. How I meant nothing to him, that he was done trying to figure me out. That all he wanted to do was train. Part of me isn't surprised by this. But the other part, the part that may be small but still has a strong hold on you, still lets the words hurt me. As his brother walks away from him, he catches my gaze and takes a step in my direction, but I step back of my own accord. I turn to Luna, who stood beside me in shock, and looked at her.

"Still think that he likes me?" I say before walking away from her which turns into a run. She calls after me but I don't stop, I just keep running until I get to the Academy, then to not raise any suspicion, I try to walk as calmly as I can to the room. Eventually when Luna shows up, I'm laying on my bed, curled into a ball and clutching my pillow, willing myself not to cry. She tried to comfort me with soothing words but when they don't work, she starts humming the tune we both came up with and it soon calms me down and I fall asleep.


	11. Mischief

Chapter 11

~Katniss~

The next day I work harder than I ever have before. Throwing knives and spears with extra force, wielding a sword and trying to cut a dummy with extra strength, and tackling a armored Peacekeeper harder than usual. I knew Brutus wanted to know the sudden change in me bu he didn't press the issue, he just let me vent in my own way. When lunch came around my muscles were sore and he gave me some medication that would calm them. After I took it I walked through the lunch room to get my food, chicken breast and a salad with milk. More healthy food. I think to myself. After I get my food I sit at my usual table and start eating and soon Clove and Luna join me.

"How was training?" Luna asked me.

"Fine, I worked harder than usual."

"Taking your anger out on practice dummies?" she asked and I nodded.

"Okay what do you two know that I don't?" Clove asked curiously.

"Cato kinda said somethings that put Spitfire in a bad mood." Luna explained for me.

"Oh god what did he do now?" Clove asked sending a small glare in his direction. I could feel him watching me from time to time as I ate my food. We went into the story of what we heard him say to his brother yesterday and it just made Clove even more mad. "That idiot!" she shouted making the room go silent. Everybody had their eyes on us and we glared at all of them.

"What?" we shouted in unison and they wet back to their food, their chatter slowly filling the room.

"God he is more dense than I thought." Clove said and I looked at her for an explanation.

"What are you talking about?"

"Citch was and is right. Why does Cato have to train when he doesn't have to. I have known Cato since we were kids and I know when he has something or someone on his mind. If he wasn't training then I would say screw the whole thing and tell him to ask you out before somebody else does." she say cutting into her chicken.

"Well it's all up to him on what he does. He can choose to train like he wants or he can stop. But right now I don't want to talk to him or even be around him." I say looking down at my almost empty tray before standing and throwing my stuff away. As I walked past the table again to get to the door Clove stopped me.

"If he did decide to stop training for you, will you give him a chance?" she asked me with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"I honestly don't know. After hearing him say that I don't mean anything I don't know if I can forgive him for that." I say before walking out of the room. I swam laps that day, trying to relieve the tension in my muscles and my mind. Soon enough Brutus was showing up to take me to the PTR for our private training session, and I worked just as hard as I did this morning. Halfway through our session when I was working with a broad sword a Peacekeeper came in to talk to Brutus.

"Trainer Brutus, Mrs. Hart is here to speak with you." the Peacekeeper said and I could tell by the loo on Brutus's face that he wasn't expecting it.

"God what does that woman want?" I thought out loud and headed towards the door "Spitfire, clean up the knives and spears quickly." he said before walking out of the door. I grabbed any of them that were in targets or dummies and set them on the table where I got them. Just as I set them down Brutus walked through the door arguing with a woman. She was tall and had blonde hair with dark blue eyes. He looked so familiar, much like Cato and Citch. Maybe they are related? I thought to myself. She walked forward on her heals sending a small and playful glare at my teacher.

"I told you I have to check the stonework of the building." she said to him.

"But your husband is that one that usually does that and he just checked it a month ago. Why are you really here." he bit back at her, trying to get her to stop walking but once she set her gaze on me, she smiled and kept walking.

"Well I didn't know you were in the middle of the session." she said and I raised an eyebrow.

"Like hell you did." he accused and groaned outwardly. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Spitfire this is Mrs. Hart. Mrs. Hart, this is Spitfire." he said gesturing to us back and forth with his free hand.

"So you're the famous Spitfire I've heard so much about." she held out her hand for a shake and I hesitantly grasped it. "I'm Citch and Cato's mother." she said and I nodded my head. "Cato said that you had taken on a new student Brutus, one that wanted to train alone. I just had to see it for myself." she said looking at him and he waved a hand at her. She rolled his eyes, looking much like her son when he does it, or vice versa, and turned back to me. "He also said that you don't tell anybody about you?" she asked and I nodded to her.

"That's right and I'm not telling you why." I stated and she nodded.

"That's understandable." she said looking at me closely. "Wow you are just as he described." she said in amazement. I looked at her perplexed and she turned around with her hands clasped in front of her, over her nude colored dress. "Well I've seen all that I needed to see in here. I better go see the rest of the buildings. Nice talking to you Brutus and Spitfire, I hope to see you around." she said flashing me a kind smile before walking out of the room. Once the door was closed behind her I looked at my Trainer.

"What was that about?" I asked him curiously.

"I have no idea and I don't want to know. Now back to training. Obstacle course under two minutes now." he said and I complied, rotating from the course to knives and back. When we were close to the end of the session I asked him a question I had been wanting to know.

"When are we going to go outside and do archery and rock climbing and that kind of stuff?" I asked him as I threw another knife.

"Next month we'll be going to the outdoor private training area to work on that. It's secluded from the rest of the buildings of the Academy so no one can see what we are going to be doing." he explains and I ask him another question.

"When I go back home for the Games, I still don't want people to know that I'm from District Twelve. Is there a way that they can keep me hidden from the cameras?" I ask and he rubs his chin as he thinks about it.

"I'll talk to the Peacekeepers when the time comes. But that's not for another three months so let's focus on this for now." he says and puts something into a tablet. Probably a reminder to talk to the Keepers about me. I remained silent as I continued to throw knives at the dummy so many feet away. As a threw the last knife Brutus spoke up again. "There's one more thing I want to talk to you about. Have a seat." he says.

"Okay." I say as I move to sit on a bench. "What did you want to talk about?" I asked curiously.

"When the Games are over, as past Victors Enobaria and I take two of our students on Victory Tours. It doesn't happen every year, only on the year that District Two has a winner. If there is one this year and if I believe you're good enough, I would like to take you as one of them." he explained to me and I looked at him in shock.

"Me? Why me?" I asked timidly.

"Because from the skills I see so far, you have done really well. And if you keep up your training and ever go into the Games, voluntarily or not, you could win them." he said to me almost proudly. I sat there and thought and while I did I could feel him watching me, looking for a reaction.

"And how will we be able to keep my identity a secret? If they go to District Twelve then people are going to know who I am and try to talk to me. It'll be given away." I ramble out worriedly.

"We can figure something out, like while we are in Twelve you get sick and have to stay on the train or something. It will be easy to figure out." he says in a "no problem" kind of tone and I just nod.

"Who is the other Tribute that you would take?" I asked him, almost afraid that I know the answer.

"Well really my only top student is Cato and you coming at a close second." he said and I was right, I already knew who he would bring.

"Great." the word passes from my lips before I have a chance to stop it.

"What?" he asks me confused.

"Cato and I don't get along the greatest." I explain to him.

"You two seemed fine at the Feast." he suggested and I nodded.

"Well in light of recent events that is not the case anymore." I said and he just nodded before standing up gesturing for me to do the same.

"We're done for the day. You may go." he said and I made a bee-line for the door, ready to get out of there and rest my aching muscles from the hard day of training. When I got to my room I saw Clove waiting outside the door sitting on the floor. She looked up at me when she heard me coming, I really need to work on my stealth some more.

"Hey are you okay? You look exhausted." she said.

"Gee thanks Clove." I snapped and she rolled her eyes. "I trained a little too hard today."

"Ah, so any idea why Cato's mommy dearest would come to the Academy?" she asked as if she knew something.

"What do you know?" I asked, answering her question with a question and she raised her eyebrow as I opened the room with my key.

"Why do you care?" she challenged and I snorted.

"Cause she waltzed in on my session today, claiming she needed to check the stone work of the building. Luckily a Peacekeeper warned us otherwise she would have seen what I was doing." I said and Clove get creepily happy and did a little victory dance.

"I knew she was lying!" she cheered and I looked at her confused. "Cato and I were throwing knives when she showed up in the TR. When he asked what she was doing here she gave the same bull shit answer. But then they started arguing a little bit and I heard your name." she explained as I sat on my bed and she sat on the edge of Luna's. I was about to say something but Luna walked through the door.

"Hey who was that woman walking around the Academy today?" she asked kicking off her shoes and sitting next to Clove.

"Probably just Cato's mom." I said and she gave me a surprised look.

"Who came just to see who Spitfire was." Clove teased with a smirk.

"Seriously? How do you know she was here to see Spitfire?" Luna asked Clove who just gestured to me letting me answer.

"Because she came to the PTR, claiming she needed to check the stonework but then when she saw me she started talking to me. Saying I just just as Cato described and she hoped to see me soon." I explained.

"Sounds like Cato has been talking about you at home." Luna said mischievously and I rolled my eyes at her.

"And why would he do that?" I asked sarcastically.

"Why do you ignore the obvious?" she asked back.

"Because I don't want to believe it!" I retorted and she let it drop.

"If I could just butt in." Clove said with her hand slightly raised. "In all my years of knowing Cato, I've never seen him take an interest in anybody like he does, or well did with you. And even though he says he's done trying to figure you out, I highly doubt that he if, and if he's not trying then he's going to drive himself crazy." she explained at Luna and I just watched her talk.

"And how do you know this?" I asked her.

"Because the Cato I know never quits, on anything. He was so hell bent on trying to figure out who you are and for him to just suddenly stop is unlike him."

"Wait a minute, why aren't you trying to figure her out?" Luna asked her while pointing to me.

"I've asked and have not received. Plus I know that she'll tell me eventually. Why aren't you trying?"

"Because I already know." Luna said simply.

"And how did you find out?" Clove asked almost annoyed.

"oh I don't know a little something called paying attention." Luna remarked and I watched as they started to argue about me. Okay I have to stop this.

"Hey as much as I love being talked about when I'm right in the room." I say in a sarcastic tone and Clove just rolled her eyes. "What I want to know is why Cato decided now to give up." I said and the two girls across from me got a confused and curious look on their faces. Well that's what was on Luna's, but on Clove's it was that mixed with mischief. What does she have planned? I think to myself.

"Looks like I'll have to do a little snooping." she says and gets up to head towards the door.

"What now?" I call after her. "And what are you going to do?" I asked her.

"No not now, tomorrow after training hours are over. And I'm just going to talk to Mrs. Hart to see what Cato has told her about you. I'll play the concerned friend card and say that Cato hasn't been talking to me like he used to. Now I actually have to go or I'm going to be late for curfew." she says and walks out the door. I look at Luna and she just shrugs her shoulders before offering up a response.

"Let Clove be Clove, she has her own little plan going on in her mind and she'll get pissed if we interfere. Lets just get some sleep, no offense but you look like you could pass out at any moment." Luna says to me and I just nod, falling back on my bed and getting comfortable, not even bothering to change into my pajamas.


	12. Rejection

Chapter 12

~Clove~

The next day after training hours I immediately made my way out of the building and heading to the home of the Hart's, and a big home at that. As I walked up to his home I remembered all of the moments I had here with our families having dinners and birthday parties. Cato and I were the best of friends before he started training. But then all he could or would focus on was Training and winning the Hunger Games. I sighed as I walked up the steps to the front door and giving it a firm knock. His mom opened the door with a smile.

"Clove so nice to see you again. Come on in." she said happily. That's one thing I like about his mom, she doesn't care for the Games and looks at the positive things in life. I stepped over the threshold and walked towards the kitchen where I could smell food cooking. "So what brings you here?" she asked stepping over to a big pot on the stove that I can only guess is her stew. I sat down at the kitchen table and rested my elbows on top of it.

"I was actually here to talk to you about Cato, is he around?"

"No he went for a walk with Citch, Selima, and Sessa. But Casco should be home soon. What did you want to talk about?" she asked curiously.

"Well I've noticed some changes in Cato over the past few weeks." here goes my story of lies, I thought. "And I know that he took up some sort of interest in Spitfire but it's suddenly stopped, plus he and I don't talk like we used to." I said to her and she sighed.

"Yes we've had a discussion about her. And I know the interest you're talking about." she replied.

"Do you know why he's stopped all of the sudden?"

"He's worried about is emotions getting in the way of his training. He told me that you were friends with this girl, she's nice and quite a mystery." she said and I smirked.

"That's what Cato said." I said and Claret smiled.

"Yeah. I would say that if she wasn't training then I could see them being together but if she wasn't training..." she trailed off and I put the pieces together.

"Then they wouldn't have met. I know." I said looking down at my clasped hands that were resting on the table. "What all has Cato told you about Spitfire?" I asked her and she gave me a quick glance.

"Besides the fact that she trains alone with Brutus and won't tell anyone where she's from or what her real name is? He can't get over the fact that she doesn't fall for his flirting or that he can't intimidate her. He really likes her eyes and that they can "pierce your soul" as he puts it. He thinks she's pretty but not too pretty like what you find from my home District in One. According to him she _fascinates _him." she explained emphasizing fascinates. I nodded and thought for a second but apparently she wasn't done. "He heard a conversation between her and her roommate Luna is it?" she asked and I nodded wanting her to continue. "Luna was talking about how she thinks Cato likes Spitfire and she kept denying it. Luna talked about how great it would be if Cato won the Hunger Games and wanted to marry Spitfire and have a family with her. But Spitfire was quick to answer, saying that she didn't want to get married or even have kids. She said she didn't want them to go through the Games or even have the chance of being in them." she said and I smiled softly.

"She sounds a lot like you." I commented.

"That's what I said." Claret said with a smile. She was about to say something else but the front door opened and I saw Citch and Selima walking in hand and hand and Cato with a giggling Sessa in his arms, a smile of his own plastered on his face. But when he saw me however, it faltered.

"What are you doing here?" he asked handing Sessa off to his brother.

"Nothing. I was just leaving." I said and without another word I walked out the door and headed to my own home. I walked a few blocks and came to my own home, much smaller than Cato's eight bedroom house, mine just had three, with a small kitchen, dining room, living room, and two bathrooms. I walked through the door and saw my five year old brother playing in the living room.

"Hey Proti. How you doing?" I asked him and he smiled at me.

"Clover!" he shouted, shakily standing up and hobbling over to me. I wrapped my arms around him, I love this boy even with his disability. I heard a chopping in the kitchen and knew it was my dad cutting up some meat for dinner. I helped Proti sit back down by his toys and went into the kitchen to find my dad with a giant knife, cutting ground beef for what I'm guessing is stew for dinner.

"Hey Papa." I said to him, grabbing a small knife and throwing it to the wall across the room, where there were many nicks from me throwing them before.

"Hey Clove how was your day?"

"The usual. How are things at the butcher shop?" I asked him.

"Got a big order in from the mayor, he's having a party in a few days and want's some meat from the shop." he says cutting the last of the beef. I nod and retrieve the knife before coming back to my spot by my dad and throwing it again. My mother walked in from upstairs right as I threw it.

"Oh Clove I didn't hear you come in. Bringing training home again?" she asked and I nodded. "So how are things with your friends?" she asked and I just shrugged.

"Cato is Cato, worried about nothing but training. And Kairo is trying to prove to Enobaria that he has what it takes to be a top student, and he's getting close." I said throwing the knife again.

"I meant your other friends. The girls?" she asked and I paused.

"They're good. Spitfire got a visit from Cato's mom yesterday." I mention and mom looks at me wanting me to continue. "Apparently Cato has mentioned her at home enough to make his mother want to know who she is." I said grabbing the knife and washing it carefully to get dirt from the wall off of it. While mother helped dad with the dinner I went into the living room and played with Proti. If he ever went into the games I don't know what I would do. I can't volunteer for him, if I could then I would. I just hope and pray that he never goes in. Mom and dad won't let him train, they hardly let me train, but I persuaded them to let me. Through the rest of the night my thoughts drifted to Cato and why he so suddenly gave up. It isn't like him to give up on anything so why now?

~Cato~

I watched as Clove walked out the door before turning back to my mom. She looked as if nothing had happened, meaning she didn't want to talk about what they had just been talking about. Well too damn bad because I want to know. Clove has been known to snoop into places that doesn't need to be snooped in. So why was she here?

"What were you talking about?" I asked mom as my brother and his wife left the room with their daughter.

"Nothing, just the Academy." she sidestepped the question.

"That's a load of crap mom and you know it. Now what were you talking about?" I demanded.

"Do not use that tone of language with me young man." she reprimanded giving me a harsh glare. "We were just talking about how she's worried about you. She said she's noticed some changes about you in the past few weeks, and that you took an interest in her friend Spitfire but you stopped. Cato you never give up on anything. She's worried about you that's all." she said and I glared at her, my hands balling into fists. I tried holding them at my side so I didn't punch anything and I was successful during my next outburst.

"Why do people have to get in my business!" I roared out loud as my father walked through the door.

"Cato calm down." he warned me. The tall, dark blonde haired, and bright blue eyed man, with muscles coating his entire body walk through the kitchen and set his briefcase down on the table for a second as he walked over to give my mom a kiss on the lips.

"I would if people didn't stop snooping into my own business when it's clearly none of theirs." I said through gritted teeth.

"We weren't snooping, she was just worried about you like any friend would be." I mom said trying to give me her sympathy.

"Please. Clove is known for her mischief and getting into things that don't need to be gotten into. And I've told you why I gave up on it, so why do you keep prying!" I shouted at her and she gave me another glare.

"To you room now. I've told you not to use that tone with me. We'll talk about this before dinner." she said pointing to the stairs. I gaped at her.

"But you-" I started but was interrupted by my father.

"Do as your mother says Cato. We'll be up to talk about it in a minute." he says giving me a warning.

"You don't even know what the hell we're talking about!" I accused him.

"Now." he ordered and I finally complied, stomping up the stairs to my room where I slammed the door shut. This is going to be a long night, I thought to myself as I dove for my bed and just laid there, thinking of how things got all messed up. Oh yeah because Citch got in my business first, which Spitfire heard.

~Katniss~

The next day I could tell something was wrong with Cato. His anger radiated off of him like the heat of the sun on a boiling hot day. And during lunch he didn't walk in, he stormed in, his eyes going wild searching for something until his eyes rested on me. He stormed over to my table where I sat alone. He rested his hands on the table and leaned on them, trying to intimidate me.

"What?" I asked him, kind of annoyed.

"You and I need to have a little chat. Not now, no our conversation will escalate and I don't need nor want people to hear it. Today after training hours, meet me out on the track. People will be gone by then so we won't be heard."

"And if I don't go?" I challenged him. His glare only becoming harder but each syllable.

"It wasn't a request Spitfire. It was an order." he said.

"You still didn't answer my question." I bit back and he growled.

"I'll make your life a living hell while you're here." he threatened, yeah I've heard that before.

"Like that's supposed to scare me?" I asked sarcastically and he growled again before leaving the table and walking to get his own food. I rolled my eyes as he walked away and soon Luna filled his place at the table, only sitting down this time.

"What was that about?" she asked me worriedly.

"He wants to talk to me alone." I answer and Clove comes up behind me.

"I'd be careful going anywhere alone with him. Are you going?" she asked looking at me.

"I don't know. He said if I didn't then he'd make my life a living hell." I said taking a bite of my roast turkey.

"I say don't go." Luna said.

"I think she should go." Clove disagreed and we gaped at her.

"Why?" Luna asked.

"Because why would he want to talk to her so randomly? He may want to talk to her about figuring her out and all that shit that he was going on about." she explained. "Maybe you can finally get some answers." she said and she had a point. I sat there and thought about it while they both continued on with their lunch.

"I think I'm going to go." I said and they both looked at me, waiting for me to go on. "I think if I go I'll get some answers. And I don't really think he expects me to go. I've rejected every almost every attempt he's made at trying to talk to me, it might throw him off his game." I said looking back and forth between them as I spoke. They both nodded and kept their gaze on me.

"So where does he want to meet you?" Luna asked.

"Out on the track after training hours." I replied.

"Well be careful. I don't trust him." Luna said and Clove nudged me in the ribs slightly. I looked down at her and saw that she wasn't looking at me but in the other direction.

"And he might have gone a little stalker on you too." she said and I followed her gaze to find Cato staring at me with a cold glare.

"What have a done to piss him off?" I thought out loud turning back to my food.

"That might be my fault a little. I went to talk to his mom last night before curfew when he wasn't home. But he came in half way through the conversation so I left early."

"What did you talk about?" I asked her quickly but quietly. She dove into the story that she heard from Cato's mom, whose name I learned is Claret.

"She said that you fascinate him." Clove finished. " She also said that you were a nice girl and wonders what would have happened if he hadn't met you through training. But we both knew the answer, you wouldn't have met." she finally ended and I just stared at her. She gave me a sympathetic look that she doesn't let many people see and I moved my eyes from her to Cato who had an angry and confused look in his eyes. He wanted to know what I was looking at him for. I shook my head to pull myself out out the gaze and turned back to my food, moving the tray out of the way and resting my head on my folded arms across the table.

"Why me?" I said to no one in particular.

"I have no idea." Clove and Luna said together.

When I was training with Brutus for the last time that day I kept looking at the clock. I was eager to go talk to Cato but I was also dreading it. I want to and don't want to know what he has to say at the same time. When the training hours had ended I had aching muscles and was in an annoyed mood because of it, the perfect mood to go talk to Cato. I walked out to the Dome where the track was and found him running laps. He was the only one out here and had some sweat running down his visible skin. When he noticed me finally he came over to me and sighed.

"I'm surprised you actually came." he said with a hint of shock in his voice. I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Well it's not like I have anything better to do right now. Now what did you want to talk about?" I demanded.

"I want to know what you did to me." he said. That sentence took me by surprise and I gave him a perplexed look.

"What are you talking about?"

"You. You came here with this fire in your eyes that people either love or are afraid of. No one knows anything about you and that frightens some people but others are intrigued by it. Nobody knows your name or what it is that you can do that got you here. It's been driving me crazy trying to figure it out. But then it morphed into something else and my interest in you was captured by your beauty and your mystery that people want to figure out." he ranted looking at me with every word trying to get a reaction out of me, when he didn't seem to get what he wanted he went on. "But then I gave myself a mental check to remember why I was here. To train, to go into the Games, to _win_. And I can't do that with you at the forefront of my mind. You are still a mystery to me that I want to figure out but I have to ignore it until I go into the Hunger Games and win. But I can't get it out of my head! I can't get _you_ out of my head." he finished taking deep breaths after his rant. I stood there in shock, not sure what to think or what to say. But my mouth had a mind of its own.

"I'm sorry that I'm such a mystery. But I am one for good reason." I said and he just gave me a "you've got to be kidding me" look.

"But I want to know what that reason is. I want to know what it is that draws me to you against my will that I've had to keep at bay so I can train to be the near perfect Tribute." he said taking a few steps towards me. "I want to know what it is that kidnapped my interest and won't give it back." he said and I opened my mouth to reply but I was interrupted by his lips coming down on mine.

They were soft and kind and when I didn't respond his kiss turned up with more hunger trying to get me to kiss back. And just when I'm about to reluctantly cave in and kiss back he groans and pulls away. I take a step back and just stared at him dazed. He looked at me like he wanted to say something and even when I shook my head trying to say stop he continued.

"You didn't kiss back." he said and I just stared blankly at him.

"What did you expect? You to kiss me out of the blue and and me kiss you back? Not every girl falls at your feet Cato." I said to him, suddenly becoming enraged.

"I know that. And I also know that you're not like most girls here." he said taking a step towards me but I put my hand up to stop him and took a step back in return.

"Unfortunately for you." I say and turn around and run out of the Dome and to the dorm rooms. I could hear him calling after me but I ignored him and kept running until I made it to my room. I entered and interrupted a conversation between Clove and Luna.

"How did it go?" Luna asked me.

"Well let's just say there was a first tonight." I said to them as I went to sit on the bed and they gave me the same looks with furrowed brows. "He kissed me." I said finally coming out with it. Clove's mouth was on the floor and Luna just looked shocked.

"He what?" Clove shouted.

"You heard me. He went on and on about how no matter how hard he tried to push my mystery to the back of his mind it was still there. And he wanted to know what it was that drew him to me. And he kissed me." I explained.

"What happened after?" Luna asked looking like a girl wanting good juicy gossip.

"He asked why I didn't kiss him back and I asked him what he would expect when he kisses a girl out of nowhere and that I'm not like every girl who falls at his feet."

"That for sure." they both said interrupting me and I suppressed a chuckle and continued.

"He said that he knows and that I wasn't like most girls.".

"What did you say.?" Clove asked.

"Unfortunately for you, and I ran away. He tried calling me back but I kept running, he didn't follow." I said finishing the story.

"Okay I usually have an idea on how he's going to react from something but with this, I have no idea." she said at a loss for words.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"Well like Spitfire said, she's not like other girls who fall at his feet. If he wanted to make out with some girl then he could just ask one of them. But the fact that he kissed you Spitfire, I don't know what he's going to do because he's never been rejected like that." she said and I just hung my head and stared at the floor.

"Well I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out won't I?" I asked and they nodded before Clove stood up.

"Speaking of tomorrow I have to get home before curfew. See you at lunch." she said as she walked to the door and out of it. After the door shut I groaned and leaned back on my bed with my arms spread out at my sides.

"What do you think is going to happen? Do you think he'll give up or keep trying?" Luna asked me softly.

"I don't know. Clove said no one has ever rejected him like this before. From what he said part of me thinks he'll keep trying." I said.

"But?"

"But the other part of me says that the rejection will make him stop trying for good." I said sighing as I sat up to face her. We were quiet the rest of the night, changing into our pajamas and getting ready for bed. I tried to sleep, but tonight's events kept running through my head on instant replay, and I couldn't stop them. I don't think I caught a wink of sleep that night because before I know it, our alarm is going off saying that we have to get ready for training.


End file.
